Four men were arrested for sending email death threats to the Israel Consul in Marseilles. One of the men was 19 years old and a high school student.
Their threats were aimed at Barnea Hassid, the Israeli consul in Marseilles, and Meyer Habib, a Jewish parliamentarian, and came in the form of emails containing videos of Islamic State militants showing off severed heads.
The email also included “messages that point to a similar fate for the Israeli diplomat and the Jewish member of parliament.”
David Kaminsky, Habib’s lawyer, told the Israeli Ynetnews site, they contacted authorities for help after the threats appeared.
“We called on them at the end of 2014 and against at the end of January 2015. The case was transferred to the anti-terror unit.”
The man was interrogated by police for three days and subsequently released into house arrest last Thursday, until the commencement of his trial scheduled for April 2. If convicted, he will face up to five years imprisonment.
Since Operation Protective Edge, MP Haviv was provided with a security detail – which was recently reinforced. Haviv noted that he received dozens of threatening emails and letters.
“I am not afraid, I automatically pass all these threats on to the police,” he said.
The French media reported that the case did not appear to involve terrorism, but that the police was taking no risks after the Charlie Hebdo killings and at the Hyper Cacher supermarket.
Though it is difficult to determine a precise number, ISIS has claimed to have decapitated hundreds of prisoners. They claim their actions have basis in the Koran.
