A member of Civitas, a fundamentalist Catholic movement dissolved by the government this fall, was sentenced Monday to five months in prison by the Lorient criminal court for preventing the taking of a concert by an American musician in Carnac.
The man was found guilty of
“concerted and threatening obstruction of the exercise of freedom of expression”
for having prevented a concert by American organist Kali Malone, in the Sainte-Cornely church in Carnac (Morbihan ) in May 2023. He will have to pay one euro for moral damages and 1,200 euros for legal costs to this musician and composer.
He was also banned from possessing a weapon for three years.
The 29-year-old man had called on several activists from the Civitas movement, dissolved by ministerial decree of October 4, 2023, to demonstrate against the Kali Malone concert, planned in front of nearly 250 spectators.
“I was up against the wall (...) as a Catholic, we must defend our religion
,” the defendant declared at the hearing, indicating that he would do it again if the situation were to recur.
Another defendant, living in a neighboring department and prosecuted for intentional violence against a Carnac municipal councilor, was acquitted.
Also read: Investigation into intentional violence after a concert prevented by fundamentalists in Carnac
“Behind Satan!”
On May 13, 2023, a municipal police officer in Carnac noted that around thirty demonstrators, reciting prayers and brandishing signs (
“Electro concert in a church: what are our bishops doing?”
,
“My house is a house of prayer”
). , gathered under the porch of the church, blocked access.
Faced with this tense situation, the mayor, Olivier Lepick, was forced to cancel the concert, although authorized by the priest and the diocese of Vannes.
He then filed a complaint after several demonstrators prevented the organ recital by American artist Kali Malone from taking place at the Saint-Cornély church in Carnac.
A municipal elected official was slapped with cries of “
back Satan!”
".
The 29-year-old man spoke to investigators of a “
spontaneous action but denied any obstruction
”.
The woman admitted to having been able to “‘
lightly push
’
a person, without knowing that it was a municipal official
”.
Tangi Noël, lawyer for the defendants, welcomed his client's acquittal, but considered that his client's action
“was not criminally reprehensible since the demonstration was not on the public highway... We will undoubtedly file an appeal and re-discuss this legal issue before the court of appeal
.
The court rejected the request for additional information from Vincent Tolédano, lawyer for Kali Malone, who had deplored, during the hearing on March 13, that the other demonstrators were not being prosecuted.
“By refraining from prosecuting the thirty demonstrators who obtained by threat the cancellation of the concert, justice is paying very little attention to an intolerable attack on the fundamental principles of the Republic, the perpetrators of which will remain unpunished
,” lamented from AFP Vincent Tolédano.