The Bobigny court on Friday acquitted eight environmental activists who were being prosecuted for the blocking, in February, in the name of the fight against "
concreting
", of the construction site of a training swimming pool for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Aged 20 to 51, four men and four women appeared two weeks ago for breaking into the training pool work site in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis) on the morning of February 2 and had to be forcibly evacuated by the police.
This swimming pool project was the subject of long-standing opposition from environmental activists because it involved the partial destruction of adjoining century-old allotments in a working-class city lacking in green spaces.
Since their action, they have won their case before the administrative justice.
The construction on the perimeter of the allotment gardens having been finally judged illegal, the Bobigny court considered that the offense of opposition to works of public utility was not characterized and consequently released the eight activists.
The prosecution had requested their conviction and a suspended fine of 2,500 euros for each of them.
“
We are very satisfied that the reasons for the release retain the legitimacy of our action
,” Chloé Gerbier, one of the prosecuted activists, told AFP after the hearing.
“
One of the reasons is the refusal by the court to consider that the works were of public utility, but this is the position that we have held for two years
”, she argued.
After a legal marathon, the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal ended up validating a new version of the training pool complex in July.
Its redefined perimeter spares the allotment gardens, but part of these gardens had already been destroyed.