Relaxation of the environmental activist who covered a painting by Monet with a sticker at the Musée d’Orsay

She wanted to denounce climate change. The activist who stuck a poster on the board The Poppies, of Claude Monet, at the Musée d’Orsay, in Paris, was acquitted on Tuesday January 21, by the 17^e Paris correctional chamber.

“I can only welcome this decision, which seems fair to me, both in law, and which reminds us that the judge remains guardian of individual freedoms”declared his lawyer, Yves Patouillard. On November 20, 2024, the prosecution requested the release of the activist.

The 1^is June 2024, around 10 a.m., a young woman dressed in a white t-shirt with the words “+4°C, hell” hung a red sticker on the board, “about 50 centimeters long” representing an apocalyptic landscape, before sticking his hand to the wall.

Already sentenced in 2023

The defendant, who was an activist within the Riposte Alimentaire movement (formerly Last Renovation), then gave a speech mentioning “hell” which awaits the population in the event of government inaction in the face of climate change. The scene, filmed live, was broadcast on the Riposte Alimentaire X account, which defends sustainable food and has been increasing its actions for several months.

At the hearing on November 20, the young woman nevertheless assured that “if there had been no window, the action of civil resistance” would not have happened. “A criminal conviction would have constituted a disproportionate interference in the exercise of my client’s right to freedom of expression”explained his lawyer.

The painting had been taken down and taken care of by a restorer who had not noticed any damage, while the young woman had been placed in police custody. The Musée d’Orsay, which became a civil party, assessed its material damage at 27,788 euros during the hearing, due to the work carried out to remove the poster from the protective glass and the closing of the ‘exposure. The activist had already been sentenced in 2023 to a two-month suspended prison sentence and a citizenship training period for similar acts.