French men get suspended jail sentences over livestreamed death

Two French streamers received suspended jail terms on Wednesday following the death of a man they had subjected to violence and humiliation for several days on his own live video stream, apparently with his consent, a lawyer for one of the accused said.



The Nice criminal court found the two men guilty of inflicting violence on 46-year-old Raphael Graven, known online as Jean Pormanove, and also of incitement to hatred for the insults they directed at him.



They were not accused of killing him as his death, while he and his abusers slept, appeared to have been due to poor health.



The incident, aired on the streaming platform Kick, shocked many in France last summer as they discovered how disturbing content aired on fringe parts of the internet can be.



The streamers, Safine Hamadi and Owen Cenazandotti, said the violence and humiliations had been scripted and partly staged, and that Graven had consented to everything.



Hamadi, who expressed remorse during the trial, received an 18-month suspended prison sentence and must pay a €5,000 ($5,775) fine, his lawyer said.

Cenazandotti received a two-year suspended prison sentence and was ordered to pay a fine of €15,000.