Demonstrations on the Croisette are well and truly banned. The Council of State rejected, on Wednesday, an appeal filed by associations against the ban on demonstrations in Cannes by the prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes, announced the professor of public law Paul Cassia, one of the depositaries of the request.
📢⚖ On May 22 at 15 p.m. the @Conseil_Etat hearing the appeal of ADELICO, @syndicatavocats and @SMagistrature against the @prefet06 decree prohibiting demonstrations on the Croisette during #FestivalDeCannes2023.
Adelico declared a demonstration in the perimeter prohibited 🎬. https://t.co/HLIAWNKbZp
— Paul Cassia (@PaulCassia1) May 19, 2023
"The Council of State validates, two days after the public hearing and one hour before the demonstration planned by the Adelico (the Association for the Defense of Constitutional Liberties, Editor's note) on the Croisette, the principle of a priori ban on demonstrations decided by the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes during the Cannes Film Festival," tweeted the professor of public law.
The association planned to organize a demonstration this Wednesday afternoon, on a perimeter where the prefecture had previously banned any gathering, for security reasons. A ban deemed liberticide by the association.
A justified decree, according to the Council of State
But, for the Council of State, the order issued by the prefecture remains justified because of the influence of the Cannes Film Festival, the need to secure the perimeter of the event, and the impossibility of mobilizing resources "in addition to the accompaniment and surveillance of events in this perimeter". In addition, the Council of State considers that the order of the prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes does not constitute "a serious and manifestly illegal infringement of a fundamental freedom".
Several actions were carried out at the Cannes Film Festival to challenge the pension reform enacted in April. Last Friday, employees of the hotel sector gathered on the forecourt of the Carlton Hotel, a place long associated with the film festival. This Tuesday, about 160 people, according to the prefecture, gathered in the morning in front of the station of Cannes, outside the perimeter prohibited by the prefecture.
At the same time, a gas and electricity cut occurred in the city, depriving the central police station of power. Many restaurants were deprived of gas, causing disruptions during the lunch service, especially on the beaches. Three men, employees of GRDF and Enedis, were arrested "in flagrante delicto" for cutting off gas and electricity in part of the city, according to a police source.
At the end of April, the CGT Energy had evoked "energy disturbances", targeting in particular the Cannes event, in other words projectors that could go out for lack of power. However, no cuts have occurred at the Festival since it kicked off last Tuesday. The festival will end next Saturday.
