The Paris administrative court, seized by the organizers of the pro-Palestinian demonstration, who are contesting its ban, will render its decision on Saturday morning, AFP learned on Friday from a source familiar with the matter.
The ban on the demonstration, which was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, was taken Thursday evening by the Paris police prefect Didier Lallement, at the request of the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin, because of the risk of
"disturbances in public order ”
.
Read also: Pro-Palestinian protests: the police are preparing for a high-risk Saturday
To challenge this
"unjust and abusive" order
, lawyers for the Association of Palestinians in Île-de-France filed on Friday an appeal for interim relief with the administrative court. Contrary to usual, the appeal was not examined in open court, the court having invoked an order allowing to rule without, because of the state of health emergency.
"France is the only democracy to ban such a demonstration!"
, protested one of the association's lawyers, Me Sefen Guez Guez, denouncing a totally
“disproportionate”
attack on freedom of expression
and a
“political” decision.
To justify the ban, Prefect Lallement underlined the
“serious risk”
of
“serious disturbances to public order”
, and also that of
“abuses against synagogues and Israeli interests”
. He put forward, like Gerald Darmanin, the precedent of 2014, when a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Paris had degenerated into urban violence. But
"since 2014, there have been plenty of demonstrations in defense of the Palestinian cause which have taken place without any problem",
for his part pleaded Me Guez Guez.
The case divides the political class, between supporters of the government's demand - mainly the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, the majority, on the right and on the extreme right - and those who denounce an
“unacceptable”
ban
, led by France rebellious (BIA). Clashes between Hamas and Israel have already left more than 100 dead in a few days in Gaza, a Palestinian enclave under Israeli blockade and controlled by Hamas, and nine on the Israeli side. They show no sign of appeasement.