Seoul:Court gives suspended sentence to Muslims who placed intimidating flyers on French Embassy

From the Korea Times

The nation’s top court has found two Muslims residing here guilty of intimidation for posting flyers on the wall of the French Embassy in Seoul to protest the country’s “anti-Muslim” stance in 2020. The two people were arrested for posting multiple flyers with threatening messages on the walls of the French embassy in Seoul and a nearby building at around 10 p.m. on Nov. 1 of last year.

The messages read, “Do not insult Muslims,” and “Those who point the sword at us will be killed by the sword.” Pictures of French President Emmanuel Macron painted with a red X mark were posted as well, according to police.
The incident came amid growing anti-France sentiment among the Muslim community.

The two men claimed their acts should be socially tolerated within the boundaries of freedom of religion or expression.
A local court found them guilty of intimidation, but not guilty of threatening a foreign ambassador, saying the threats were for the staff of the embassy in general and not specifically the top envoy.

The judge handed down a six-month prison term, suspended for one year, to both of them. But an appellate court commuted it to a suspended sentence, although it also recognized they were guilty of intimidation. The high court recognized the convicted men had served in jail for almost six months because they had been behind bars since the lower court ruling was made.

The Russian national, who had overstayed his visa at the time of the crime, was deported at the end of last month right after the top court’s ruling. The Kyrgyzstani, who had been taking a graduate course here, told immigration authorities that he would voluntarily leave the country by the end of the year, according to the court.