Thirteen climate activists still in police custody after a demonstration in front of Amundi, one of the main shareholders of TotalEnergies

Of the 201 people arrested Friday during a gathering of climate activists in front of the premises of asset manager Amundi, 188 were released, while 13 were still in police custody on Saturday May 25, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. .

Friday morning, several dozen people disrupted Amundi’s general meeting, accusing the company of being one of the main shareholders of TotalEnergies. The oil giant held its own general meeting on the same day in the La Défense business district, under tight police security.

Several hundred activists had been surrounded by the police, and 201 were taken into custody for “participation in a group formed with the aim of committing violence or damage”, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. Among them, 186 saw their procedure closed: 24 for “absence of infringement”15 “for insufficiently characterized offense”147 for “irregularity of the procedure”. Two people also saw a “citizen contribution” replace their pursuits.

“Brutal repression”

The police headquarters “uses abusive deprivation of liberty as a means of repression”with heavy “police measures implemented”, exclaims Extinction Rebellion in a press release released on Saturday. The Attac association also castigated “brutal, disproportionate, indiscriminate repression”.

Activists from multiple organizations gathered to demand “abandonment” flagship projects in Uganda and Tanzania, Mozambique and Papua New Guinea, and “stopping all investment in new fossil projects”, a recommendation from the International Energy Agency.

The demonstrators were joined by political figures such as the environmentalist MP Sandrine Rousseau and the head of the “rebellious” list in the European elections, Manon Aubry. Groups representing indigenous communities from Peru and Uganda were also present to express their opposition to criticized TotalEnergies projects in the two countries.