Their action had attracted media attention and if the verdict, fines of 300 to 500 euros, may seem lenient, “it is clearly not a victory for ecology”. Eleven activists from Attac and Extinction Rebellion, who blocked access to a terminal at Le Bourget airport in September 2022, were convicted by the Bobigny criminal court, for gathering after summons. The court found that the defendants had “had ample time to disperse before the summons were made”.
A twelfth activist was in the dock but was not prosecuted for this charge, for procedural reasons. The twelve defendants were all acquitted of the two other charges, “degrading during a meeting” and “organizing a prohibited demonstration”. “This decision reflects the procedure, there remains a lot of misunderstanding about the terms of the decision,” reacted one of the defendants’ lawyers, Me Hélène Jouny.
The question of “legal means to warn of the climate emergency”
On September 23, 2022, around twenty activists, some wearing white coats, for nearly two hours prohibited access to a terminal at Le Bourget airport, which they had covered with red paint. Four activists were perched on an awning above the access path to the terminal, with a counter supposed to illustrate the number of tonnes of CO2 saved by this blocking action, or one tonne every ten minutes.
“The prosecution continues to criminalize actions with an ecological aim and the public authorities clearly refuse to address the real problems posed by global warming,” declared Me Jouny. “This is clearly not a victory for ecology,” regretted Lou Chesné, spokesperson for Attac. “This decision strengthens our determination to continue our actions of civil disobedience,” she added.
“The judge tells us that he does not accept the state of necessity and considers that there are other legal means to warn of the climate emergency. Except that he doesn’t tell us which ones,” the spokesperson continued. “During the hearing, we still heard an IPCC rapporteur say that without a change in environmental policy, humanity will no longer exist in 2100 in a world at + 4°C,” recalled Lou Chesné.