A couple residing in Saint-Priest-des-Champs, who entered into “civil disobedience”, were sentenced on Monday April 29 by the Clermont-Ferrand judicial court.
On March 25, Emmanuelle Chapleau and Philippe Lacot admitted in court to knowingly breaking the law. Since the start of the 2022 school year, they have refused to request authorization to educate their children at home, as is now required by the new “separatism law”. A text deemed “offensive” for the two parents who until then only had to declare their choice to home educate their first two children.
The Jules Ferry laws provided that parents could choose the education of their children. It is a fundamental freedom.
Me Kiganga, lawyer for the couple (at the trial of March 25)
Yesterday, the Saint-Priestois were finally declared guilty of “refusing to enroll a child of school age in an educational establishment despite formal notice” by the Clermont-Ferrand judicial court and sentenced to a fine of 500 euros. each suspended.
The couple, who claim an act of “civil disobedience”, have decided to appeal this decision. “Not to do it would be inconsistent, we have to go to the end,” argues Philippe Lacot, former specialist educator.
Collateral victims
Through their legal fight shared by other people in France, the couple is pursuing a double objective: “Either to make our cause so talked about that the government backs down. Or make these legal procedures become so commonplace that prosecutors stop pursuing families in our situation,” explains Emmanuelle Chapleau.
“We are the collateral victims of a law which was not written for us, which does not concern us,” adds his companion. The next trial should therefore take place at the Riom Court of Appeal. “It’s a completely different atmosphere,” warns Me Kiganga.
Louise Llavori
A Ferrari intercepted at 180 km/h instead of 80, in Périgny
#French
