French prosecutors investigate gender-based cyber harassment of Algerian Olympic champ Imane Khelif

PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors 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 sex during the Summer Games, the Paris prosecutor's office said Wednesday.

The athlete's lawyer Nabil Boudi filed a legal complaint Friday with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor’s office that combats online hate speech.

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 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.”