The administrative court of Lille examined on Wednesday February 22 the request of La Citadelle, headquarters of the Lille ultra-right, to cancel its closure and the ban on an upcoming evening entitled "that they return to Africa" ordered
respectively
by the city and the prefecture.
The court will render its decision on Thursday on these two summary freedoms.
For La Citadelle, Me Frédéric Pichon denounced a "
misuse of power
" on the part of the town hall, which ordered its immediate closure on February 14, considering that this premises actually operates as an Establishment open to the public (ERP), but without be declared as such.
"Real danger to the lives of others"
Under these conditions, its opening "
presents a real danger to the lives of others
", specifies the municipal decree, which invokes "
the urgency to act
".
"
For years, Martine Aubry has not stopped wanting to ban this local
," said Me Pichon, accusing the socialist mayor of Lille of acting "
for ideological reasons
".
“
The city of Lille cannot leave an undeclared ERP in a room of which we know nothing to organize an evening of which we know nothing
”, objected Me Benjamin Marcilly, lawyer for the city.
He notably underlined that “
the association makes its events public on Facebook
”, which takes them out of “
the simple private framework
”.
On the banning of the evening scheduled for Friday,
"Let them return to Africa
", Me Pichon denounced "
a disproportionate attack on a fundamental freedom
".
In its decree of February 15, the prefecture considers in particular that the title, taking up a sanctioned remark by deputy RN Grégoire de Fournas in the National Assembly, is “
in itself a public provocation to hatred and discrimination
”.
The decree also invokes the risk of "
serious disturbances of order and security
" if the event is maintained, especially since a demonstration was announced at the same time by an anti-fascist collective.
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Predict “
in advance that there will be public outbursts.
It's extrapolation
”launched Me Pichon.
"
In eight years
" since the opening "
there has never been the slightest problem, the extent that this is taking is delusional
" launched the president of La Citadelle, Aurélien Verhassel, ex-member of the dissolved group Génération identity and support for Eric Zemmour in the presidential election.
The Lille prosecutor's office for its part opened an investigation on February 13 for "
public provocation to hatred or violence because of origin, ethnicity or race
".