Journalist Serge Halimi, one of the sons of Gisèle Halimi who died in 2020, will not participate in the national tribute to the lawyer scheduled for Wednesday, because it comes in full mobilization against a pension reform that the feminist activist would have fought, he announced on Sunday.
Serge Halimi, former director of Le
Monde diplomatique
, says he was "
suddenly informed
" this week by the Presidency of the Republic, "
at the same time as the press
", that this tribute would take place on Wednesday March 8, on International Human Rights Day. women.
“
I will not participate.
The decision of the Élysée comes after more than two years of procrastination and while the country is mobilized against an extremely unfair pension reform of which the women who occupy the most difficult jobs will be the first victims, "said Serge Halimi in
a statement sent to AFP.
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“
My mother would have defended their cause and demonstrated alongside them.
March 8 will be the best way to honor his memory and his struggles
,” added the journalist, who told AFP that he had “never
had contact with the Élysée, nor with any official, since the death of (his) mother
”.
“
Political instrumentalization
”
Serge Halimi thus agrees with the position expressed by Violaine Lucas, the president of the association "
Choose the cause of women
", founded by Gisèle Halimi and Simone de Beauvoir in 1971. Organizing this national tribute in the midst of protest against the pension reform is a matter of a “
political instrumentalization
”, estimated Violaine Lucas, who will not participate in the ceremony planned at the Paris Courthouse either.
Conversely, lawyer Jean-Yves Halimi, brother of Serge, one of Gisèle's sons, said he was "
very satisfied
" at the announcement of this tribute.
"
I always thought she deserved it
," he said.
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Lawyer, politician and writer, Gisèle Halimi, who died on July 28, 2020 at the age of 93, made her life a fight for women's rights.
In particular, she worked for the decriminalization of abortion, then for its coverage by Social Security.
Previously, she had denounced the use of torture during the Algerian war by the French soldiers, which had earned her an arrest and a brief detention.
Besides Serge and Jean-Yves, Gisèle Halimi had a third son, journalist Emmanuel Faux, who died in August 2022.
