Le Figaro Lyon
“Symbols related to Nazism”
.
The decree from the Rhône prefecture published this Friday afternoon to ban an ultra-right forum on
“integral ecology”
planned for Saturday in Lyon, insists on the affiliation of the
“Lyon populaire”
movement , which organizes it , on the hard fringe of the Lyon ultra-right.
And to underline the presence of guests
“identified as belonging to the Lyon ultra-right”
as well as the risk of clashes with far-left movements.
This forum
“is prohibited in Lyon and in the Rhône department”
, specifies the prefectural decree.
The poster for the event presents a beam (a reference to Italian fascism also taken up by the Vichy regime) as well as a Celtic cross, symbol of the GUD (Groupe Union Défense), a radical far-right student union.
Founded after the dissolution in 2019 of the Bastion social group, Lyon Populaire is part of the revolutionary nationalist movement, a far-right trend centered on belonging to European civilization.
The leader of the small group in pre-trial detention
The group had planned to organize the second edition of its annual
“forum”
on Saturday , dedicated this year to
“integral ecology”
.
The founder of Lyon populaire, Eliot Bertin, was initially scheduled to speak on the theme of
“ecological activism”
but he was placed in pre-trial detention at the beginning of February with another ex-member of Bastion social.
They are accused of having participated in an attack in November against an association premises in Vieux Lyon, where a conference on Gaza was taking place.
Seven people were injured, three of them seriously, during this action which led to the indictment of seven of the attackers for
“criminal conspiracy”
and
“participation in a group formed with a view to preparing violence or damage”
.
Until then more discreet than the Remparts, the other Lyon ultra-right group heir to Génération identitaire (dissolved in 2021), Lyon populaire regularly organizes conferences in Lyon in the premises of the François Duprat circle (1940-1978), an ideologue National Front denier.
Read alsoIsère: a neo-Nazi black metal festival was held despite the prefectural ban
Elected officials, including the environmentalist mayor Grégory Doucet, have been calling for several months for the dissolution of the two groups and the closure of their premises.
The ultra-right brings together nearly 3,300 people in France, including 1,300 on S files, according to a recent parliamentary report.
Lyon, one of its historic strongholds, is regularly the scene of banned demonstrations or violence.