POLITICS – Can an uprising be dissolved? This is the question, worthy of the philosophy baccalaureate, which Gérald Darmanin tries to answer. The Minister of the Interior effectively pronounced the dissolution of the nebulous Les Uprisings of the earth this Wednesday, June 21 in the Council of Ministers.
A decision taken on March 28, three days after the anti-basin demonstration in Sainte-Soline, in Deux-Sèvres, which led to violent clashes with the police and two very seriously injured (among the activists ).
Problem, for the executive, eager to put a stop to the actions of these green activists: the thing is not simple… as shown by the three-month period it took him to build his file.
Two sensitive points…
According to several jurists, two points are particularly sensitive. The first is due to the very existence of the Earth Uprisings. It is not an association strictly speaking, with statutes and a structure. Rather, it is a collective of many environmental organizations, NGOs, unions and other activists.
It is no coincidence that, in the decree published by Gérald Darmanin at midday, the government does not speak of an association, but of a ” de facto group. » A qualifier refuted by the first interested parties, who consider themselves much more like a “network” of activists.
The lawyers of the Uprisings of the earth, Raphaël Kempf and Aïnoha Pascual, for example argued in their last response to the government dating from April 7 that the movement is not a declared association, but a dynamic “horizontal and organic” around a ” call “ which brings together up to 60,000 supporters according to them.
Second difficulty, for the executive: to concretely justify – and legally – its decision. The dissolution procedure must indeed respect certain precise rules. The separatism law of 2021 may have extended the grounds, by allowing a group to be dissolved in the event “violent acts against persons or property”, despite everything, it is necessary to characterize the violence, and to link it to the collective.
…And cause for hope for the Uprisings?
Clearly, the government must demonstrate that Earth Uprisings are directly responsible for the acts of violence that justify the dissolution. Or that some activists have committed abuses in their name.
In its decree released on Wednesday, the government therefore considers, among other grievances, that the ” violent acts “observed during several gatherings for the climate” clearly result from the slogans and the provocations orchestrated by the group », SLT. Not enough to disarm the main interested parties, however.
In this context, activists have already announced that he would challenge the government’s decision step by step, in particular before the administrative judge. The lawyers of the collective indeed confirmed, this Wednesday at the end of the day, to formulate an appeal before the Council of State. Each side will then have to provide its arguments.
Reason for hope for the Uprisings of the earth, the highest administrative court has already suspended one of the last requests of Gérald Darmanin. The judges ruled last May that the dissolution of the Lyon Antifascist Group “The Scabies”, demanded by the Minister, infringed freedom of expression, assembly and association. He is still active.
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