Justified arrest or attempted intimidation? A Sciences Po student from the Reims campus was arrested after participating in the May 1 demonstration. An event which aroused the anger of student unions. But what really happened?
This May 1, 2024, Sam (first name has been changed) had a very specific program: demonstration in the morning and revisions in the afternoon. “I never imagined finding myself in police custody for five hours“, confides this first-year Sciences Po student on the Reims campus.
“They slammed me against a car and told me I was under arrest”
Sam, student placed in police custody
It all started, she tells us, in front of the Union House where some demonstrators had chosen to spend a friendly moment at the end of the rally. “I went out with a friend. We saw a group of men staring at us. They came towards me and suddenly they slammed me against a car saying ‘you are under arrest’. I didn’t understand at all what was happening“.
Nearly 500 people demonstrated for May 1st in the streets of Reims.
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© Cécile Banasik
These police officers, in plain clothes, handcuff the 19-year-old young woman in front of her friend who is filming the scene. The video was viewed by a journalist from France 3 Champagne-Ardenne who noted that this arrest took place calmly and without violence. It is then 12:40 p.m., the time Sam’s custody begins. It will end at 5:50 p.m.
The young girl describes five rather trying hours. “It was really cold and I was told I couldn’t have my jacket back because it had straps that I could have used to kill myself“, she tells us with a touch of irony. Her medication for anxiety attacks is also refused according to her story.
The hearing, on the other hand, takes place more calmly. The student learns that around twenty people have organized a demonstration of support in front of the Police Headquarters. “I was told that I had a small support committee on the square, that warmed my heart“.
The young woman was already informed in the car that she was being arrested for “contempt of officer”. She discovers the comments she is accused of. “The police officer who interviewed me asked me if I had chanted ‘ACAB’ on the megaphone during the demonstration, I answered yes“.
“For me, saying ACAB is not a call to hatred”
Sam, Sciences Po student placed in police custody
This English acronym originally means “All Cops Are Bastard”. But Sam affirms that she was not targeting the police officers present during this Reims march and above all, that she does not see it as an insult: “Teveryone knows that ACAB is a political slogan which aims to denounce police abuse, particularly during demonstrations, it is the complete opposite of a call to hatred“.
The police also accuse him of having shouted “down with the cops“, a mistake according to Sam.”They thought I said it in a song, but they misunderstood“.
At the end of his police custody, Sam receives a summons to appear before the criminal judge for June 7. This summons by report indicates that a fine of 500 euros is requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
This proposed penalty remains much lower than the maximum penalty provided for by the penal code. Contempt against an agent holding public authority can be punished by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 euros.
“She is not known to the police “explains François Schneider, Public Prosecutor of Reims”this is why the amount requested is rather symbolic. But if there is a recurrence, she will risk much more“.
Aurore Artaud, the court-appointed lawyer who assisted Sam, prefers not to comment on this orientation. But she is not surprised by the arrest of the student: “Offenses of contempt against persons holding public authority (…) are very often reported today and are becoming more and more common.“
For Sam, this detention is clearly intended to weaken the mobilization of students in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza, which continues to gain momentum. “When I came out, we talked about it a lot, we were very angry. They try to intimidate us, but it’s completely counterproductive “.
If she says she remains as determined as before, she assures that this event motivated certain students, less invested, to mobilize more.
In a press release, the AER student union (Alternative Etudiante Rémoise) denounces an arrest which is taking place “in a context of more global repression“against the students.
“This arrest is not exceptional”
Frédéric Chesneau, Alliance Police Nationale union
However, on the side of the police, we deny any political will. “This type of arrest is not exceptional, even if it does not occur at every demonstration“, explains Frédéric Chesneau of the Alliance Police Nationale union.
The communication from the Reims police station also states “that from the moment an offense is constituted, we must deal with this offense. However, we have noted a certain number of comments which amount to contempt.”
Same position on the side of the Reims Public Prosecutor’s Office which considers that “this arrest is 100% justified“.”These are students at Sciences Po, states the public prosecutor, they know very well what ‘ACAB’ means. We can’t let this go.”
