A protester against the global security law, March 16, 2021 in Paris. – CELINE BREGAND / SIPA
- The Parliament definitively adopted, with the support of the government, the proposed law on “global security”, after months of mobilization and demonstrations.
- Article 24 of this controversial text aims to protect the police in operation by penalizing the malicious dissemination of their image.
- The Socialist Group has already announced its intention to refer the entire text to the Constitutional Council.
Five months have passed since the start of their mobilization. Despite the final adoption of the text on Thursday by Parliament, the opponents of the “comprehensive security” law, united in coordination, remain determined. “Today, the law comes to the end of its parliamentary process, but it is not a defeat so far, far from it”, estimates Arthur Brondy, journalist and representative of the SNJ-CGT union (National Union of Journalists – CGT). Gathered in Place Edouard-Herriot, a few meters from the National Assembly, the members of this coordination, at the origin of a major protest movement launched last November, ensure that “the fight is not over”.
Deeming this text “liberticidal” and “infringing on freedoms”, unions and associations of journalists, union confederations and human rights organizations are now appealing to the censorship power of the Constitutional Council. Promised by the head of government, Jean Castex, the referral of the wise should intervene quickly. At the end of the vote, the Socialist Group also preceded it by
announcing its intention to seize the Constitutional Council on the whole of the law.
Contributions deposited with the Constitutional Council
Since the arrival of the text in the hemicycle, opponents of the “comprehensive security” law demanded the outright withdrawal of the text. In vain. If the massive demonstration of November 28, organized a few days after the aggression of producer Michel Zecler by several police officers, pushed parliamentarians to rewrite article 24 of the law, the changes made by the senators remain “insufficient” for coordination .
“Article 24, even rewritten, will be used to intimidate protesters. We will be able to place them in police custody by accusing them of having tried to identify the police in order to undermine their integrity. The goal is to prevent the images of the demonstrations from being broadcast when it is these images that make it possible to restore the truth ”, castigates David Van Der Vlist, lawyer at the Paris bar and member of the SAF (Syndicat des Avocats de France).
However, “this mobilization is not a failure. The fight is not over, we will meet at the Constitutional Council, ”announces Arthur Brondy of the SNJ-CGT. Everyone has high expectations for this “next step”. “We are going to submit several contributions to the Constitutional Council”, adds Emmanuel Poupard, first secretary general of the SNJ (National Union of Journalists).
“Track” the drones
Also called “narrow doors”, these contributions addressed to the Sages have already borne fruit in other texts. “When the Avia law was referred, there were a lot of them and it had a positive effect. The Constitutional Council had taken up many arguments from these “narrow doors” and as a result, the law was almost completely censored “, illustrates Arthur Messaud, spokesperson for Quadrature du Net (QDN). In parallel, the regional coordinations will also collect “citizen referrals” in Rennes, Montpellier or Sète, added Emmanuel Poupard.
Once seized, the Constitutional Council will have one month to rule on the text. And he can append the observations drafted by the associations and unions to his decision. Until then, the members of the coordination want to remain vigilant. And in particular on the use of drones during demonstrations, enlarged and framed by this new law.
Very mobilized on this point, the Quadrature du Net makes an appointment on May 1 to “track down the drones” of the police: “We are probably going to have an important demonstration. The police will want to try their new gadgets authorized by law, except that the procedure before the Constitutional Council will probably not be finished, worries Arthur Messaud. We therefore risk witnessing a big deal, with violations of current legislation on the use of drones. “