The GUD (Union Defense Group) as well as three other structures from the ultra-right were dissolved this Wednesday, announced government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot.
“We have just dissolved ultra-right associations, including the GUD and radical Islamists, in the Council of Ministers,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin wrote on X. Indeed, at the request of the politician, the GUD (Union Defense Group), the Remparts, and two other ultra-right structures based in Lyon, were dissolved on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers, announced the spokesperson for the Prisca Thevenot government.
Apart from the GUD, an ultra-right student union created in the 1970s and recently reactivated, the Lyon “de facto group” Les Remparts, as well as two associations, La Traboule and Top Sport Rhône, have been dissolved. An Islamist association, Jonas Paris, was also dissolved on Wednesday. “Hate from the extremes must be fought by the Republic,” he added.
Never dissolved but dormant since 2017, the GUD announced its return at the end of 2022. According to Gérald Darmanin, the structure was “friends” with “people” from the National Rally (RN). This small group incites “violent actions against people”, according to the dissolution decree.
Challenge before the state council
As for the Remparts, it holds a “discourse provoking hatred, discrimination and violence against foreigners”, by “developing a discourse focused on the defense of the race and the incompatibility between Islam and civilization Western”, according to this same decree.
The group will contest its dissolution before the Council of State, a spokesperson announced. “We will obviously contest this decision before the Council of State,” “we will not let this arbitrary decision happen,” Antoine Durand, spokesperson for the Remparts, told AFP. “It will be done very quickly,” he assured.
“The government has finally shown responsibility, it was urgent to act for the safety of Lyonnaises,” EELV Mayor Grégory Doucet told AFP. “At a time when the RN is preparing to govern, there is an urgent need to stem this violence,” he added on X.
