Add Category
In short:
French prosecutors are investigating an online harassment complaint made by Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif.
Khelif faced a torrent of criticism and false claims about her gender during the Paris Olympics.
What's next?
Khelif will be welcomed in her hometown of Ain Mesbah later this week.
French prosecutors have opened an investigation into an online harassment complaint made by Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif after a torrent of criticism and false claims about her gender during the Paris Games.
The athlete's lawyer, Nabil Boudi, filed a legal complaint with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor's office that combats online hate speech.
Mr Boudi said the boxer was targeted by a "misogynist, racist and sexist campaign" as she won gold in the women's welterweight division, becoming a hero in her native Algeria and bringing global attention to women's boxing.
The prosecutor's office said it had received the complaint and its Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime had opened an investigation.
The investigation is based 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 was thrust into a worldwide clash over gender identity and regulation in sports after her first bout in Paris, when Italian opponent Angela Carini pulled out just seconds into the match, citing pain from opening punches.
Claims that Khelif was transgender erupted online. The International Olympic Committee defended her and denounced those peddling misinformation.
Khelif said the spread of misconceptions about her "harms human dignity".
Her legal complaint was filed against "X," instead of a specific perpetrator, a common formulation under French law that leaves it up to investigators to determine which person or organisation may have been at fault.
The Paris prosecutor's office did not name specific suspects.
The development came after Khelif returned to Algeria, where she met with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Wednesday.
She will be welcomed by family later this week in her hometown of Ain Mesbah.
AP