"Vague"
offenses
,
"charges"
without warning and
"infringement of rights"
: in a study published Monday 8 February on 35 arrests without prosecution, Amnesty International denounces
"arbitrary detentions"
during the Paris demonstration of 12 December against the law Global security.
That day, among the 142 people arrested - including 124 in police custody -
"nearly 80% were ultimately not prosecuted"
, points out Amnesty International France in the preamble to its report consulted by the AFP.
This raises
"legitimate concerns about the risks that there have been arbitrary arrests and other human rights violations"
, estimates the NGO, member of the coordination of associations and unions mobilized against the Global Security law.
To read also: Law "global security": Emmanuel Macron caught up with the violence of the demonstrations
This proportion is comparable to that of the “yellow vests” period, revealed on November 25 by the public prosecutor Rémy Heitz: from the end of 2018 to the end of 2019, only 27% of people placed in police custody had been prosecuted.
The discrepancy between the number of arrests and the actual prosecutions is regularly the subject of criticism from the defenders of civil liberties and the police, but for opposite reasons.
"
The judicialization of demonstrations is not new"
, concedes to AFP Anne-Sophie Simpere, in charge of advocacy "Freedoms" at Amnesty International France and author of the report.
But on December 12,
“there was no notable violence on the part of the demonstrators, degradations.
Nothing seems to justify what happened in terms of arrests or charges, ”she
underlines.
I was surprised by the strategy of maintaining order: at each intersection, the police charged without cause or warning on non-violent demonstrators.
"
Alexis Baudelin, lawyer
Interviews, medical certificates, legal documents: Amnesty looked into the case of 35 people arrested without prosecution,
"including 33 in police custody and two deprivation of liberty of nearly five hours"
.
The demonstration had started that day from Châtelet to join the Place de la République, and had been framed on the sides and at the front by numerous police and gendarmes, forming a sort of "mobile net" from which it was not possible to leave, had noted AFP journalists.
From testimonies and videos, Amnesty stresses that the arrests took place on the occasion of
“charges”
which were not preceded by
“audible summons”
and without
“significant disturbances”
in the procession.
"I was surprised by the strategy of maintaining order: at each intersection, the
police
charged without motive or summons on non-violent demonstrators"
, testifies to AFP Alexis Baudelin, lawyer, arrested without be placed in police custody.
Throughout the course, the
police
had indeed multiplied the
"offensive leaps"
to challenge and, according to the police headquarters,
"prevent the constitution of a group of violent black blocs"
, after two weekends consecutive violence in Paris.
"Tote offense"
The report also points to
“detentions on the basis of vague laws”
, in particular that sanctioning
“participation in a group with a view to preparing for violence”
, accused in 25 of the cases studied.
However, in the Amnesty study, only two people out of 35 were arrested in possession of objects (diving goggles, gloves and motorcycle helmet) that could justify a suspicion of participation in a violent group.
“It is a catch-all offense, which in law is called an obstacle offense.
We sanction a fact before it happens, ”
explains Ms. Simpere.
This provision
"lacks precision"
and
"contributes to the authorities using it in a way that unduly infringes human rights"
, writes Amnesty.
“They told me he was part of a malicious gang.
It was incomprehensible
(...)
My son is an activist but he is by no means a violent person, ”
told AFP Lara Bellini, whose sixteen-year-old son spent twenty hours in custody before being released without prosecution.
Read also: Assaulted but criticized, the police in a vice
Finally, at least five cases studied by the NGO have seen their recall to the law accompanied by a ban on appearing in Paris for a period of up to six months, a measure made possible since a law of March 2019. This restriction on the right to move is
"a penalty without judgment"
which poses
"all the more problems
(...)
as the persons concerned cannot appeal"
, denounces Amnesty, calling on Parliament to repeal this provision of the Code of penal procedure.