The courts decided on Friday to suspend the prefectural ban on a march against racism and Islamophobia planned for Sunday in Paris, considering that it represented “a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the freedom of demonstration”. The Paris police chief decided on Thursday to ban this march followed by a concert, citing “high risks of disturbances to public order”.
Welcoming the decision of the administrative court, Simon Duteil, co-general delegate of the Solidaires union, noted “that once again we must have recourse to justice for a fundamental right which is the freedom to demonstrate”. “This government does not support freedom of expression and in particular that we denounce police violence and racism,” he added.
Going against the police headquarters, the administrative court stressed that the organizers had planned “to control speeches at the microphone in order to prevent any anti-Semitic speech”. And to conclude: “Under these conditions, it does not follow from the investigation that the planned demonstration would lead to serious disturbances to public order. Therefore, the execution of the contested order, which constitutes a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the freedom of demonstration, must be suspended. »
The authorities feared “disturbances to public order”
“The failure to take into account the risks of excesses by the organizers and the insufficient security service raise fears of a strong risk of disturbances to public order,” the police headquarters indicated on Thursday to justify its decision. “This march which denounces in particular in its appeal
police crimes
against young people is conducive to attracting components deliberately seeking clashes with the police, creating a real risk of disturbances to public order”, had -she also specified in a decree.
The decree noted “moreover that this march, also wishing to focus attention on the children of Gaza, is likely, given the current tensions in the Middle East (…) to carry anti-Semitic slogans”. The prefecture also mentioned a context of “police mobilization on other demonstrations and sporting events”, such as a flea market on Place de la République all day long or for the PSG-Olympique Lyonnais football match in the evening.
The national observatory of police practices and violence and the NPA are among the organizers of this march, planned between Barbès and République. The organizing collective had filed an appeal for interim relief to challenge its ban. “We therefore arrive at this situation through a formidable Kafkaesque operation: organizing a demonstration to denounce racism, Islamophobia and for the protection of all children becomes a violent provocation in the eyes of the French state and is prohibited from doing so. title,” the collective reacted in a press release.