J.K. Rowling has refrained from tweeting for almost two weeks after she was named in a lawsuit brought by Olympic Women’s Boxing gold medalist Imane Khelif.
The Harry Potter author has been cited in a cyber harassment case after she shared a picture of Khelif fighting Italian boxer Angela Carini and accused her of being a “male” who was “enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head.”
Khelif is a cisgender woman. She was born female, was registered as a girl at birth, is legally a woman and continues to identify as a woman.
Allegations that she has male ‘XY chromosomes’ were made by the governing body IBA, which has long been mired in scandal and controversy.
Speaking to El Birad in the wake of the lawsuit, Khelif has said she was ‘hurt a lot’ by the intense scrutiny she found herself under.
She said: “Immediately after there was a big uproar from big politicians around the world, athletes around the world, and even artists and stars, Elon Musk, Trump.
“I am not lying to you, it affected me. It affected me a lot, hurt me a lot. I can’t describe to you the amount of fear I had. The scenario was very scary.
“Thank god, all the people of Algeria and Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will.
“Honestly, I don’t like to get into politics in sports, but they got into politics in sports. Sports and politics are two separate things. These politicians who are oppressing me, they don’t have the right to say that I’m a transgender.”
Possible repercussions for cyber-bullying in France include prison sentences ranging from two to five years and fines ranging from £26,000 to £39,000.
If prosecuted for online hate speech, perpetrators could be fined between £64,000 to £214,000.
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