French prosecutors have opened a probe into a cyberbullying claim made by Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who has filed a case alleging that several prominent figures had taken part in online harassment over her gender.
Prosecutors on Wednesday said Harry Potter author JK Rowling, X owner Elon Musk, and former US President Donald Trump have been named in the complaint filed by Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi.
However, the claim was filed against social media platforms including X, and not against a specific individual, a common formulation under French law that leaves it up to investigators to determine which person or organisation may have been at fault.
The prosecutor’s office said its Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime has opened an investigation on charges of “cyber harassment based on gender, public insults based on gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insults on the basis of origin”.
Khelif, who was at the centre of a gender controversy at the Paris Olympic Games, is Algeria’s first gold medallist in women’s boxing. She is also the country’s first athlete to win an Olympic gold since 1996.
Boudi had filed the complaint late last week, saying the 25-year-old boxer was targeted by a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” as she fought her way to gold in the women’s welterweight division.
The deluge of criticism came after Italian opponent Angela Carini pulled out of a bout with Khelif seconds into the match, citing concerns for her safety.
False claims that Khelif was transgender or a man spread online.
In a post on X, Rowling described the boxing match as “a male punching a female”. Musk shared a post, saying “men don’t belong in women’s sports”. Trump posted a photo of the fight, writing: “I will keep men out of women’s sports.”
For its part, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended Khelif, and denounced those peddling misinformation.
Khelif, along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, had been cleared to compete in the Paris games after they were both disqualified from last year’s world championship for failing gender eligibility testing. The world championship is overseen by the International Boxing Association, not the IOC.
‘Designed to break her’
Khelif has said she is “a woman like any other”.
“I was born a woman, lived a woman and competed as a woman,” she told reporters amid the row. “They hate me and I don’t know why.”
On Monday, Khelif was met with cheers of “tahia Imane”, meaning “long live Imane”, as she arrived at Algiers airport.
An editorial in the government daily El Moudjahid praised the boxer.
“Imane’s victory is also a victory for the oppressed and the excluded, but above all it is a victory for the law, which for too long has been trampled by the logic of the powerful, who are greedy for domination and adept at double-standard policies,” it said.
Khelif’s coach Mustapha Bensaou said the boxer’s complaint in France should “serve as a lesson in defending the rights and honour [of athletes] in Algeria and around the world.”
“All those involved will be prosecuted for violating Imane’s dignity and honour,” Bensaou told the Associated Press news agency. “The attacks on Imane were designed to break her and undermine her morale. Thank God, she triumphed.”
