The Nice Criminal Court also imposed a fine of 45,000 euros on Atal on the charge of inciting hatred based on religion, and forced him to publish the conviction against him at his own expense in the newspapers “Nice-Matin” and “Le Monde.”
The ruling came close to what the Public Prosecution requested, which wanted to convict the Algerian international defender of 10 months in prison with a suspended sentence and fine him 45,000 euros for publishing the 35-second video clip.
Atal, who was called up to the Algerian national team squad for the Africa Cup of Nations finals scheduled in Côte d'Ivoire between the 13th of this month and the 11th of February, defended himself by saying that he did not watch the entire video clip and reposted it without knowing all of its contents.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Miggy Chotia said: “These are serious facts that should not be underestimated. Sharing a video means highlighting the comments,” she writes.
The 27-year-old said during his appearance last month before the Criminal Court in Nice: “I thought it (the video) contained a message of peace to the people suffering in this war,” adding that “I shared this video without watching it until the end.”