“When we risk police custody for asking for peace, it’s not a few drops that will scare us. » Although the light rain this Tuesday morning begins to seriously cover the lenses of her glasses, it does not dampen Josie’s motivation. This France Insoumise activist thus responded to the party’s call to support Mathilde Panot and Rima Hassan, the two rebellious elected officials summoned by the police as part of investigations for “apology of terrorism” after comments linked to the war to Israel-Hamas.
Well before their arrival on site, around 8:30 a.m. between the Paris court and the premises of the judicial police, nearly 200 people crowded in front of the Ibis hotel at Porte de Clichy. The flags of Palestine mingle with the numerous blue, white and red scarves of the elected officials of the party founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
“Accused of glorifying terrorism for calling for a ceasefire”
Manon Aubry, François Ruffin, Adrien Quatennens, Rachel Keke… The party’s leaders are almost all present, accompanied by other figures from the left like Olivier Besancenot or Sandrine Rousseau.
Josie awaits the arrival of the two chosen ones. She left her grocery store in the east of Paris for a few hours and disguised her impatience with a few songs: “We’re here”, “We’re not giving up”… “What’s happening is unbearable to me. It’s simply political censorship,” she explains vehemently.
With her, her friend Marie-Anne shows colder anger, but no less intense. This 54-year-old left-wing woman has never been registered and has never even voted rebellious. But the situation is unbearable for him: “We are sliding towards an authoritarian regime. People are accused of advocating terrorism for calling for a ceasefire, it is very, very serious. Meanwhile, the government kowtowing to the FN [RN, N.D.L.R]. »
Criminalization of the opposition
She barely concludes her sentence when Aurélie Trouvé, deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis, climbs onto the small stage set up for the occasion and takes the microphone. After a few words of thanks to the audience, she announced the arrival of Mathilde Panot. The president of the rebellious group at the National Assembly arrives under an umbrella and to applause. In the form of an anaphora “Those who summon us”, she speaks of “abuse of power”, “criminalization of activists” in an almost Gaullian tone. She hasn’t even finished her speech when several activists at the back of the crowd shout “We love you Mathilde!” “.
The “criminalization of the opposition” is what pushed Alexis Corbière to come and support the two summoned: “It’s crazy to come to this, to summon a political leader for the press release of an entire group which calls for a ceasefire. This is very worrying for freedom of speech. »
“Through LFI, we want to intimidate all supporters of Palestine”
Meanwhile Mathilde Panot, who continues her speech, sees her last sentences all punctuated by a “Resistance” from the crowd. Among her, Gabriel is holding, with three of his friends, a Tzedek banner! A decolonial Jewish collective. He came to support the elected officials because according to him, “through the LFI, it is all those who support Palestine and the Palestinians that we want to intimidate”.
An intimidation that Clémence Guetté does not deny. The MP waits like everyone else for the arrival of Rima Hassan and takes a few minutes to confide in 20 minutes : “There is a real turning point today. We have gone from a series of baseless accusations to a constant process of criminalization of opposition, simply for asking for peace. »
Already convictions
According to the elected official from Val-de-Marne, this Tuesday’s mobilization is also important for “all those who do not have a voice that carries as much as ours”, “but who have been summoned for apologizing for terrorism by the same organization” as the one which brought Mathilde Panot and Rima Hassan before the police this Tuesday. “There have been dozens of complaints filed, and some have been convicted,” she is indignant, referring to the general secretary of the CGT du Nord, sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence for a leaflet claiming that the Hamas violence of October 7 had been “provoked” by “the horrors of the illegal occupation”.
A few minutes later, Rima Hassan arrived on site and spoke into the microphones. Before leaving in the direction of the judicial police, she takes the time to quote a few words from Gisèle Halimi: “I don’t want to be silent, I don’t want to give in. […] History will judge but will not erase the destruction of life, of a people, of innocent people. »