They wanted to demonstrate "
peacefully
", take "
pictures
", "
protect
" themselves from tear gas.
At the trial of the sacking of the Arc de Triomphe during a demonstration of "
yellow vests
" in 2018, young people without history tried to explain Monday March 22 how they were "
dragged
" into "
total hysteria
".
To read also: "yellow vests" tempted by the Elysee
In the large courtroom of the Paris judicial tribunal, they are seven, standing and aligned facing the president, the air not to lead wide.
They are not the "
main culprits
" - never identified - "
scenes of desolation
" that have made the rounds of the media, recalls President Sonia Lumbroso.
However, they risk up to 10 years' imprisonment, in particular for aggravated damage and theft.
The court begins by "
retracing
" the thread of this December 1, 2018, act 3 of the demonstrations of "
yellow vests
".
Hundreds of vehicles burned, businesses looted ... And then the Arc de Triomphe, stormed by demonstrators in a fog of tear gas.
Inside the monument, “a
field of ruins
” sums up the president, where the damage is estimated at one million euros.
Most have no criminal record
What is reproached to defendants in front of her sometimes seems a little derisory.
Valentin N., 25-year-old Breton, has no criminal record like most of his co-defendants (including two women, absent at the hearing but represented).
"
I have sympathy for the yellow vests
," he said straight away.
Having come to the Place de l'Étoile "to
see what was going on
", "to
take pictures
", he says he was caught in "
the movement of panic
" and found himself inside.
He climbs on the roof of the monument like other demonstrators, "out of
curiosity
".
In the devastated souvenir shop, Valentin N. “
automatically
”
picked up
four postcards.
"
Two from the Arc de Triomphe and two from the Eiffel Tower
" - specifies the president.
It is for this theft that he is being tried.
Mehdi B., a 26-year-old delivery man at the time, came to demonstrate.
“
Peacefully,
” he says.
He entered the monument to “
protect
” himself from the tear gas.
“
It was a survival instinct
,” he explains.
He is appearing simply for entering the monument and for lying about his identity at the time of his arrest.
To read also: Sacking of the Arc de triomphe: 10 "yellow vests" judged on Monday
Another is there for trying to smash a door with a fire extinguisher.
He was 18 years old, recalls the president who tries by all means to understand "
why
".
Melvyn A. is inaudible, struggles to explain.
"
It was total hysteria
", "
I was trained
", "
it went to my head
", repeats the one who knew "
nothing about nothing
" to "
yellow vests
" before.
Then came Hamza C., 21 at the time.
His DNA was found on a partially destroyed statue in the monument.
"
Can it be a postilion?"
», He says.
"
It is a priori a contact DNA so it is the skin
", replies the president impassively.
“
I wandered around a bit,
” he admits.
But “
when I arrived, everything was already broken
”.
The questioning of the defendants continues on Tuesday, the trial is scheduled until Friday.
