A French elderly woman was dragged through the court system for 18 months, all because she expressed outrage in a social media post over the murder of Thomas Perotto in Crépol, which has been reported as an anti-White hate crime. The 70-year-old Sylvie has finally been acquitted on Nov. 20 of “hate speech” in the Paris Court of Appeal, which overturned her conviction in a lower court.

“I still find it hard to believe it, this story changed my life so much. But you shouldn’t be afraid to say what you think,” the relieved retiree told the press after her conviction was overturned.

“At no time did I call for harm. It was simply a reaction of the heart, spontaneous. I have grandchildren the age of this young man who was stabbed,” said the former nurse, whose public comments about the murder were posted on her personal profile.

The case is not only being seen as a victory for free speech, but also an example of how far zealous authorities will go to terrify Europeans complaining online about foreigner crime or mass immigration.

Sylvie was living in Cuers when she suddenly had her house raided and was arrested for alleged “hate speech” for a Facebook post she made shortly after the death of Thomas in Crépol in 2023. The youth was stabbed to death by a group of youths with a migration background, and their trials are still ongoing.

So far, nobody has been convicted of the crime, but numerous witnesses at the event reported hearing the youths scream they “wanted to kill White people” before Thomas was killed with numerous stab wounds. Another two French youths were seriously injured during the attacks.

In response to Thomas’ death, Sylvie posted “the names of the alleged perpetrators involved in Thomas’ death” and mentioned “the soldiers of Islam” in her post, according to French news outlet France Bleu.

The French authorities later targeted the woman, launching a police action on May 28, 2024. She says she was shocked to find police officers standing at her door at 6 a.m.

She was convicted in the Paris Criminal Court, where she was forced to pay a fine for €1,000 for a post “inciting hatred.” However, her conviction has now been overturned on the basis that her comment was covered under freedom of expression.

Sylvie said she is still processing the court decision, according to ICI. She expressed great emotion and a profound sense of injustice after her hellish 18-month legal ordeal.

She also spoke about the emotional toll of having the police show up at her door in an early morning raid and being treated like a criminal.

“At my age, 70 years old and sick, I must have been a danger for them to come get me and take me into custody. My life has been disrupted. I was photographed as a delinquent and they took my fingerprints. I was told I was a first-time offender. It’s been a year and a half of trauma, and I feel a deep sense of injustice. I wasn’t talking about expressing hatred at all. But freedom of expression must be protected. Because the day we lose our freedom of expression, we simply lose our freedom. And it’s very dangerous,” Sylvie stated.

The Paris Criminal Court had initially convicted the retiree for “provocation to hatred,” imposing a fine and compensation for the alleged perpetrators whose names she had shared. However, her lawyer, Maître Maxime Barnier, advised her to appeal, arguing that her freedom of expression had been infringed upon.

“My client was being prosecuted for provoking hatred and violence, an offense with an extremely vague legal outline. The Court of Appeal took up the position of the Court of Cassation, considering that the provocation should be taken as an exhortation, not a simple invitation, but an injunction to do so. Now, in this case, there was no exhortation to hate people because of their real or supposed belonging to a clearly defined community, nor was calling on citizens to protect or defend themselves an exhortation to commit violence. The Court of Appeal considered that this was part of a debate of public interest,” said the retiree’s lawyer.

“The right to express oneself is also the right to be caricatured and outrageous. I am not defending this opinion. I defend the right to be able to express this opinion within the limits provided by law. We do not beg for freedom or the right to express ourselves. We impose it, we claim it and we protect it. And as an exception, it is sanctioned if the limits set by law are crossed,” Barnier explained to ICI Provence.

The Paris Court of Appeal therefore ruled that “Sylvie had not exceeded the limits” fixed by law in this instance.

Notably, the murder of Thomas is still hotly debated and discussed in France, including earlier this month when French politician Éric Zemmour mentioned what he said were the anti-White racist motives behind the murder.

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