Edwin Malboeuf, the 32-year-old man arrested following the damage to Eric Ciotti’s tenure, caused the day before the vote on the motions of censure against the pension reform, last spring, was sentenced to twelve months in prison. imprisonment with probationary suspension and to pay one euro to the parliamentarian, for moral damage, this Tuesday in Nice.
Having left on the night of March 18 to 19 to cover a militant action, according to his statements, this journalist at the origin of the alternative media Mouais.org, marked on the extreme left, had finally been “caught in the euphoria of the moment,” he explained, denying any “premeditation.” “It was the activist who broke the deadlock, not the journalist,” he declared on the stand.
“We felt dispossessed”
Asked after the announcement of the deliberations to know if he “regretted” his act, the thirty-year-old paused and explained: “Yes, yes, because that is not the way we generally see the fight” . “I regret that this gesture had such significance,” he declared, specifying that he did not intend to appeal the decision.
Before the investigators and again at the hearing, this Tuesday, he had in any case admitted to having thrown a pebble in the direction of the premises of the deputy of Alpes-Maritimes, president of the Les Républicains party “following the movement”. The inscription “the motion or the pavement” had also been sprayed on the storefront, in a context of high tensions in France. “Two days earlier, 49.3 had been triggered by the Prime Minister to push through the pension reform after three months of peaceful demonstrations,” recalled the defendant at the invitation of the president of the criminal court.
“We felt dispossessed. And anger was expressed, even if I in no way justify the violence,” added this trained journalist, whose press card has not been renewed since 2021, due to lack of sufficient income in the media. The thirty-year-old also works as a cycle taxi in Nice, he said.
The prosecutor, who had requested the twelve months of suspended probation to which the man was sentenced, had also requested a ban on appearing at the scene of the offense, on possessing a weapon and 140 hours of community service. . “When we replace the debate of ideas with violence, we become an enemy of democracy,” said the representative of the prosecution. Putting pressure on the vote of Eric Ciotti or any elected official is unacceptable in a country like France where pluralism of ideas is a reality and where everyone can express their opposition. » Denouncing “an act of intimidation and provocation”, the parliamentarian’s lawyer had only asked for one euro for her client’s moral damage.
“Who sows the wind…”
The thirty-year-old was prosecuted for “damage or deterioration of the property of others aggravated by two circumstances”, the acts having been committed against the office of an elected official and in a meeting. Three co-authors, masked, have not been identified. “It wasn’t my idea. I followed suit. Until the last moment, I wasn’t going to throw a wrench. But I was caught up in the euphoria of the moment,” he explained in court.
In the process, he published a photo of the vandalized office on the X account (formerly Twitter) of his media published by an association “for the recognition of alternative media” (ARMA). The post, since deleted, included the slogan tagged on the storefront and was accompanied by the text “which sows the wind…”, recalled the president of the court.
“A climate of extreme political tension”
Informed by sources of the action that was going to take place that evening, the journalist went openly in front of the office of the elected official, several windows of which had been discovered smashed. A tag “the motion or the pavement” had also been written on the storefront. The MP’s office, located on the port of Nice, was attacked on the eve of the vote on one of the two motions of censure presented against the government’s text. Éric Ciotti, in favor of pension reform, reacted by affirming that he “would not give in to any intimidation”. The motion was ultimately rejected by nine votes.
Edwin Malboeuf was identified thanks to video surveillance in the city of Nice. Arrested ten days later, on March 29, he was tried in immediate appearance the next day. Her counsel had requested a delay so that “he would not be judged in the climate of extreme political tension that reigned” at that time, she recalled at the hearing on Tuesday. “In reaction to this act, Éric Ciotti denounced the ‘new disciples of terror’ in a tweet, difficult to hear in a city devastated by the attack of July 14, 2016,” pointed out Me Laura Pons. In her pleading, the lawyer also mentioned “a disproportionate investigation and means”, and in particular searches and DNA analyses, while the identity of her client had been quickly established.