French Man Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Visiting Pro-ISIS Websites (theverge.com)

According to French media, a court in the department of Ardeche on Tuesday sentenced a 32-year-old man in France to two years in prison for repeatedly visiting pro-ISIS websites -- even though there was no indication he planned to stage a terrorist attack. Police raided his house and found the man's browsing history. They also found pro-ISIS images and execution videos on his phone, personal computer, and a USB stick, an ISIS flag wallpaper on his computer, and a computer password that was "13novembrehaha," referencing the Paris terrorist attacks that left 130 people dead. Slashdot reader future guy shares with us an excerpt from The Verge's report: In court, the man argued that he visited the sites out of curiosity. "I wanted to tell the difference between real Islam and the false Islam, now I understand," he said, according to FranceBleu. But the man reportedly admitted to not reading other news sites or international press, and family members told the court that his behavior had recently changed. He became irritated when discussing religion, they said, and began sporting a long beard with harem pants. A representative from the Ardeche court confirmed to The Verge that there was no indication that the man had any plans to launch an attack. In addition to the two-year prison sentence, he will have to pay a 30,000 euros (roughly $32,000) fine.

Comments

Well that's terrifying

[Hadlock]

For two reasons:
 
1) no valid crime (in my opinion) was committed
2) it's a two year sentence, besides pissing off a bunch of people, what purpose does this serve?
 
You can't change a person's ideologies by imprisoning them, not without brainwashing them. This seems like the wrong way to address these problems. Imprisoning and fining people for their thoughts and beliefs is likely to cause more people to think this way, rather than deter it.

Re:Well that's terrifying

[Capsaicin]

1) no valid crime (in my opinion) was committed

1) On what basis do you argue that Article 421-2-5-2 was not duly enacted as a valid law of France?

2) On what basis do you claim your entitlement to an opinion on a matter of French constitutional law?

Re:Disturbing, but practical

[mark-t]

Regardless of how fundamentalist he might have been becoming, there was no indication that he would have ever committed an actual crime. This is like arresting someone for drunk driving when all they have done is gotten drunk, and you never even gave the guy a chance to call a cab or friend to pick him up

Re:I peruse iffy websites all the time

[Dutch Gun]

The law specifically requires "habitual" viewing, so theoretically you wouldn't be charged unless you visited regularly over a period of time. Also, probably more relevantly, not unless you're living in France.

Re:Thoughtcrime

[Joce640k]

That totally applies in the USA as well.

Please tell us how you'd go about getting off the "no-fly" list, and how people get on it in the first place.