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The "
paillassou
", a puppet bearing the image of Emmanuel Macron, is part of all the demonstrations in Nice against the pension reform.
Placed on a white canvas, the presidential figure is propelled into the air in the middle of the walkers, most of the time delighted to see the puppet crashing pitifully on the macadam.
At the maneuver: Thomas Gesthem, a school teacher, member of the Snuipp FSU in the Alpes-Maritimes.
Wednesday, March 22, the latter went a little too far in provocation, on the occasion of the blocking of Nice station by a few hundred trade unionists.
On the rails, he then placed his "
paillassou
" of Emmanuel Macron in front of a stationary TGV train.
If the gesture had indeed provoked the jubilation of the demonstrators present, it did not at all make the prefecture laugh.
In fact, a complaint was quickly filed on behalf of the State, following this staging considered "
macabre
".
On Monday, the teacher was summoned to a free hearing at the police station and placed in police custody.
For more than 7 hours, he had to explain himself on the facts of "
contempt of person depositary of public authority and public provocation to the commission of a crime or misdemeanor without intent
".
At the end of his hearing, he was able to leave free, although his home was also searched.
“An act of great banality”
Tradition of the Nice carnival, the "
paillassou
" is usually a straw mannequin inside which its owner locks up all his worries.
And it is by making the puppet waltz with a sheet that he frees himself from it.
A form of folkloric catharsis taken up in its own way by Thomas Gesthem from 2018, during the movement of yellow vests.
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By means of a press release, the Maralpine inter-union
strongly denounces “this judicial drift in the face of an act of great banality
”.
The unions, which bring with one voice all their solidarity with regard to the respondent, believe that the "
paillassou
" would only be "
the symbol of freedom of expression
".
And to continue: “
These methods of intimidation have been applied in other cities in France: they are intolerable and unacceptable.
»
"
As Nicolas Sarkozy said in 2006 (then Minister of the Interior, editor's note) ''all in all, I prefer excess caricature to excess censorship''", concludes
the press release.