Argentine legislator indicted over anti-Israel social media posts

JTA -An Argentine legislator has been indicted on criminal charges after comparing Israel to the Nazi regime and calling it a “genocide state” on social media.

Vanina Biasi of the left-wing Workers’ Party is the first sitting legislator in Argentina to be indicted for antisemitism, and the case against her marks the first time social media posts demonising Israel have been legally recognised as antisemitic in Argentina.

The indictment comes as Argentina takes an aggressive stance against antisemitism and anti-Israel activity, fuelled by the philosemitism of its populist president, Javier Milei. A prosecutor first lodged charges against Biasi in late November 2023, days after Milei’s election and before he was sworn in. Biasi lost a series of appeals, leading to the formal indictment on Thursday, 7 August.

The case against Biasi centres on eight tweets she posted on X between 27 November 2023 and 29 January 2024.

“The Zionist Nazis need to destroy UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] humanitarian aid so the extermination can accelerate. They use famine, like in Nazi concentration camps, as a method of extermination,” Biasi wrote in one of the tweets. In another, she wrote, “The Zionist state is Nazi because of its practices and ideology.”

The first prosecutor argued that Biasi’s messages went beyond free speech and constituted hate speech under Argentina’s Anti-Discrimination Law. A federal judge backed that assessment in April, saying that her posts incited hatred against Jews, and ordered a seizure of assets equal to about $7 500 (R133 037).

Biasi’s legal team appealed on free speech grounds.

On Thursday, the Federal Chamber unanimously upheld the indictment and asset seizure. The judges ruled that freedom of expression isn’t absolute, and can be restricted to protect others’ rights, national security, public order, health, or morals. They agreed that Biasi exceeded the limits of allowable free speech.

Biasi is a prominent leader of the Workers’ Party, a former national legislator, and a recently elected member of the Buenos Aires city parliament. If convicted, she could face a prison sentence of one month to three years.

The case has divided Argentinians, with some arguing that even if her posts might be seen as objectionable, they shouldn’t be treated as illegal. Others say they are glad the government is taking a strong stance against antisemitism.

The Argentine government adopted the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of antisemitism, which defines some forms of Israel criticism as antisemitic, in 2020.

The DAIA (Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas), Argentina’s main political umbrella group, supported the charges, saying that the posts reproduced “classic stigmas of modern antisemitism” and that Biasi’s prominence meant their “negative impact and reach” were extended.

Biasi doesn’t appear to have been restrained by the prosecution, which she said was politically motivated. “Now the court confirms the prosecution, when the whole world is talking about nothing but the genocide being perpetrated by the state of Israel,” she tweeted, calling for a mass protest against Israel on Saturday. “There’s no greater absurdity than believing they will silence us with judicial persecution.”