Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has filed a criminal complaint to French authorities claiming that author J.K. Rowling and tech billionaire Elon Musk participated in a campaign of “cyber harassment”.
Khelif, who is alleged to have male XY chromosomes, competed against women to win gold at the Paris Olympics.
Khelif failed the International Boxing Association’s gender eligibility tests gender tests along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who also won gold at the Olympics.
Breitbart reports: Khelif defeated multiple female opponents on the way to winning gold. During the height of the controversy, J.K. Rowling, Elon Musk, and prominent accounts on X were strongly critical of Khelif for competing, with some wrongly characterizing Khelif as “transgender.
Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based attorney of Khelif, told Variety that the complaint had been filed the anti-online hatred center of the Paris public prosecutor’s office on Friday. Per Variety:
The lawsuit was filed against X, which under French law means that it was filed against unknown persons. That ‘ensure[s] that the ‘prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,’ including those who may have written hateful messages under pseudonyms, said Boudi. The complaint nevertheless mentions famously controversial figures.”
“J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” he said, adding that Donald Trump would be part of the investigation. “Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”
“What we’re asking is that the prosecution investigates not only these people but whoever it feels necessary. If the case goes to court, they will stand trial,” Boudi said, adding that the lawsuit “could target personalities overseas.”
“The prosecutor’s office for combating online hate speech has the possibility to make requests for mutual legal assistance with other countries,” Boudi said.