Yesterday, Buenos Aires judge Pablo Cruz Casas, in charge of Misdemeanor Court No. 10, dismissed left-wing leader Alejandro Bodart (MST-FIT Unit) in the first instance from the lawsuit that the DAIA initiated months ago for alleged “discrimination” and “anti-Semitism” as a result of his criticism of the State of Israel for its genocide of the Palestinian people, at the time of the murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (see attached ruling).
In his acquittal, the judge affirmed that Bodart’s expressions “are protected by the scope of the right to freedom of expression… they are not enough, even considering the definitions adopted by the City of Buenos Aires of what is understood by anti-Semitism, to negatively impact the legal good that the norm protects… the various expressions of disagreement with the policies of the State of Israel must be tolerated in a democratic state, and therefore they must not be silenced by criminal law.”
María del Carmen Verdú, the CORREPI member who took up Bodart’s defense together with her partner Ismael Jalil, pointed out: “It is an important ruling because it recognizes the repeated and improper use of the penal system to criminalize political dissent and the denunciation of atrocities such as those committed by the State of Israel against the Palestinian people. It is not the first time that we have clashed with entities like the DAIA, which insist on equating criticism of state terror policies with discriminatory anti-Semitic positions. It will surely not be the last, so this victory of truth will help in the future.”
Bodart himself added: “It’s a very strong ruling. Judge Casas valued the defense of the democratic right to freedom of expression. The DAIA and Zionism seek to silence all political criticism of the State of Israel and its genocide against the Palestinian people. Surely they will appeal, but together with my lawyers and witnesses, like Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nora Cortiñas, Pedro Brieger, Norman Briski, Laura Alche de Ginsberg and leaders from the entire left and other spaces, we will continue to defend freedom of opinion and the questioning of the State of Israel’s anti-Palestinian racism.”
See the ruling here