Vanina Biasi, an Argentine national deputy from the Workers’ Party, was prosecuted for antisemitism and violating Anti-Discrimination Law 23.592, according to a ruling by Argentine Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas.
Monday’s prosecution follows a series of social media posts made by Biasi between November 2023 and January 2024 in which she used terms such as “Zionist Nazis” and accused Israel of genocide.
A lien has been placed on Biasi’s assets for 10 million pesos. If Biasi is found guilty of inciting hatred or promoting discriminatory propaganda under Law 23.592, she could face a prison sentence ranging from one month to three years.
Biasi’s posts included references to the “Zionist state” as “Nazi” due to its practices and ideology, likening Zionism to genocide and apartheid, and accusing the “Zionist narrative” of manipulating facts to justify its actions.
She also made statements such as, “I understand that a propagandist of a terrorist, genocidal, and child-killing state would be upset to read this, but their bullying will not silence me.”
Following the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, Biasi dismissed the distress of a father searching for his missing daughter, calling it part of a “Zionist narrative.”
Judge Rafecas stated that Biasi’s comments exceeded the legitimate bounds of free speech and incited persecution and hatred against the Jewish community, violating principles of equality and non-discrimination.
He also noted that such rhetoric could have a negative impact in Argentina, a country that has experienced two significant attacks against the Jewish community: the bombings of the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA headquarters.
Further antisemitic posts
Between November 2023 and January 2024, Biasi made a series of divisive social media posts criticizing Israel and Zionism. On January 27, 2024, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Biasi drew comparisons between the “supremacy and racism” behind the Holocaust and what she described as the “justification of the Palestinian genocide” by Israel. She accused Netanyahu’s supporters of manipulating the memory of the Holocaust for political purposes.
Biasi further sparked controversy on January 28, 2024, by accusing “Zionist Nazis” of working to destroy UN Relief and Works Agency humanitarian aid efforts, comparing their actions to those of Nazi concentration camps and saying they were using famine as a method of extermination.
These posts have sparked legal action and widespread condemnation from various organizations, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which labeled them as antisemitic.