Expeditious. This Friday, the Bordeaux judicial court rendered its decision following the acts of violence, incitement to hatred, insults due to sexual orientation and damage committed during the pride march in Bordeaux, June 12 last. That day, nine ultra-right activists had climbed onto the roof of the eco-citizen house in Bordeaux to hold up a banner: “Let’s protect children, Stop LGBT madness” while chanting “anti-LGBT” songs through a megaphone and performing Nazi salutes. After altercations with demonstrators, all will end up in police custody.
This Friday, May 26, the verdict fell and none of the nine defendants was present. So the president, Sonia Silva, made the decision in just a few minutes. Only one of the activists, the leader, initiator of the action and chanting with a megaphone, was sentenced to a fine of €1,000 for “public insult on the grounds of sexual orientation”. Two others were sentenced for the degradation of a pedestrian crossing in LGBT colors. Finally, a last, accused of having thrown gravel in the direction of demonstrators, already condemned for acts of violence in the district of Saint-Michel, was released for these facts.
Also, none of these activists was judged for the words written on the banner and for the supposed Nazi salutes because of an “omission to quote a direct quote by the bailiff to the Public Prosecutor, as we explains Maître Laforcade, lawyer for the civil parties. It’s infuriating because it’s kind of the heart of the file and it’s also the only part over which we had no control.
Even if the latter still wants to put things into perspective: “We are starting from very, very far in this case, this is where it differs from that of the violence of Saint-Michel. We came very close to having neither prosecution nor conviction. Now, the penalties may seem insufficient, but they are satisfying because there is an acknowledgment of what has been suffered. An insult because of sexual orientation is a crime and it has been recognized as such. »
“A historic victory”
For his part, Tristan Poupard, president of the Le Girofard association, was delighted with the recognition of the “homophobic character”. “We were prepared for this kind of punishment, recognizes the Bordeaux activist. When you look closely, it is very often complicated to retain the homophobic character and this is the case here. So it’s a great satisfaction. For us, this is a historic victory because people must know that it is not an opinion that they are giving, it is a crime, it is homophobia. “Even if the latter regrets the non-possibility of matching these penalties with “additional, educational penalties” because of “the nature of the offense”, as recalled by Maître Laforcade.
Tristan Poupard is now facing forward and is now looking towards the month of pride, which will be held next June. “People have to know, it has to reassure everyone, proclaims the leader of the association. The next Pride march will take place on June 10 with reinforced security measures compared to previous years. »