It is not up to Gérald Darmanin to decide whether a demonstration is likely to cause disturbances to public order. Despite the telegram sent by the Minister of the Interior to the prefects to prohibit demonstrations and gatherings in support of the Palestinian people, the Council of State reminded the government that it was up to the prefects alone to assess “on a case by case” basis. the risk.
In a telegram addressed to the prefects on October 12 by Gérald Darmanin, five days after the bloody attack perpetrated in Israel by Hamas, the instruction was given to prohibit “pro-Palestinian demonstrations, because they are likely to generate unrest to public order”. “No ban can be based solely on this telegram or on the sole fact that the demonstration aims to support the Palestinian population,” the Council of State said in a statement.
No serious attack on the freedom to demonstrate
“If the judge regrets the approximate wording of this telegram, he notes that the representatives of the State at the hearing, but also the public declarations of the minister, have clarified his intention: to remind the prefects that it belongs to them, in the exercise of their powers, to prohibit demonstrations of support for the Palestinian cause publicly justifying or valorizing, directly or indirectly, terrorist acts such as those which were committed in Israel on October 7, 2023 by members of the organization Hamas,” clarified the highest administrative court.
For these reasons, “the summary judge of the Council of State considers that the telegram addressed to the prefects does not constitute a serious and manifestly illegal attack on freedom of demonstration and freedom of expression and rejects the association’s request Palestine Action Committee,” concludes the press release.
“Editorial clumsiness”
For Vincent Brengarth, one of the two lawyers of the Palestine Action Committee, “this is a complete disavowal for the Ministry of the Interior, whose regrettable editorial clumsiness is highlighted. No systematic ban is possible on the basis of this telegram. The ministry is clearly reminded of the law by the Council of State.”
This decision comes on the eve of a new call for a rally in Paris launched by CAPJPO-Europalestine, an association campaigning for the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people.