Police violence denounced by demonstrators in France has been widely publicized.
But this time it is "the judicial harassment" of which they would be the object that Amnesty International denounces.
In a damning report, released Tuesday, the organization points to a system designed to "crack down" on people who often have not committed offenses.
In 2018 and 2019, more than 40,000 people were convicted of various offenses and offenses "on the basis of vague laws", frequently "used to illegally restrict the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression", says the NGO.
Its 56-page report is documented by dozens of cases of peaceful demonstrators "arbitrarily arrested" and "victims of judicial harassment", according to Amnesty, during the period of popular mobilization of yellow vests and against the pension reform.
"I was only relaying messages"
Frédéric Vuillaume, union leader of Force Ouvrière et Gilet Jaune from the very beginning in Besançon, thus tells of a “descent into hell” for him and his family, who had never had to deal with “neither the police nor the justice system. Before the demonstrations of November 2018.
"It is true that I have a big mouth and that when I speak to the megaphone, I am heard, but that does not make me a criminal, I have never committed any violence", assures this agent of 48 year old interview.
“I was just relaying messages on Facebook calling for mobilization, like everyone else,” he says.
But the prefecture and the prosecution did not hear it that way.
Accused of being one of the "leaders" of the movement in his city, he should, according to them, have declared the gatherings.
Police custody, house searches, court summons ... A long cycle of "pressure blows" and "intimidation" which will last two years then began for the activist and his relatives.
Tried three times for obstructing traffic and insulting a person holding public authority - he shouted "Castaner assassin" during a trip by the Minister of the Interior at the time - Frédéric Vuillaume was banned from demonstrating and ordered to pay a total of eight fines.
His wife was indicted twice and his 22-year-old stepson, with a clean criminal record, was sentenced in February 2019 to one year in prison, including six months closed for throwing a mortar firecracker.
"Make examples"
"Violence during demonstrations is a legitimate concern, but there is a political will to set examples and dissuade people from taking to the streets," said Marco Perolini, researcher for France at Amnesty International.
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The offenses, often formulated "too vaguely", lead the courts to pronounce "disproportionate" sanctions against peaceful demonstrators, according to the researcher.
According to Amnesty, the repression of demonstrators has increased with the adoption of new laws, notably that of April 2019, criminalizing behavior that was not previously a crime, such as covering the face.
In 2020, the health crisis was an opportunity to further extend restrictions on the right to demonstrate: according to the NGO, 85 people were fined for demonstrating in May and June.
In addition, "the demonstrators find themselves regularly arrested and prosecuted for
regrouping with a view to participating in violence
on the basis of mere suspicion", continues Marco Perolini.
According to official statistics, 1,192 people were convicted of this offense in 2019.
Procedure canceled
Another case cited by Amnesty International, that of Julien and Gilles.
Both were arrested and searched on February 17, 2019 as they reached a roundabout blockage in Toulouse.
In their pockets, police found flares, a ski mask and a dust mask.
After twenty-four hours in police custody, the two forty-year-olds were prosecuted for “participating in a gathering to prepare for violence” and “carrying smoke without a legitimate aim”.
Released on bail, they no longer had the right to set foot in Toulouse while awaiting trial.
Two months later, the criminal court declared the proceedings “null and void”.
But again, the prosecution appealed the decision.
They were finally acquitted for lack of evidence in December 2019.
"I think twice before attending a demonstration, since today we can end up in prison without having done anything," testifies Gilles, on condition of anonymity in the report.
