acquittals, reprieves, and the specter of anti-terrorism

Évreux (Eure), report

The nine people accused following an action against a Lafarge cement factory in December 2023, following their trial, received their verdict on Friday December 20. Five of them were released [1]the other four sentenced to six and ten months suspended prison sentences respectively. However, they risked up to 10 years in prison for criminal conspiracy and kidnapping, at the end of a procedure which saw anti-terrorism resources deployed against these environmentalists.

With so much at stake, the public authorities also pulled out all the stops for the two days that the hearing at the Évreux court lasted: streets blocked off, squads of CRS and pedestrian screening gave the area around the courthouse a bunkered appearance. This did not prevent, not far away, the gathering of several dozen supporters of the defendants at the call of organizations such as Sud Education and the New Anti-Capitalist Party, of which two of the defendants are members.

« Disarmament » at the cement manufacturer Lafarge

On December 10, 2023, around 80 activists dressed in white overalls burst into a concrete plant belonging to the Lafarge company in Val-de-Reuil (Seine-Maritime), for a so-called action of « disarmament »as part of decentralized days of action against the concrete industry, called by more than 200 organizations.

17 people were arrested on April 8, 2024 following the investigation carried out by the Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate (Sdat) and the Rouen judicial police, in a wave of searches occurring simultaneously in several towns in Normandy as well as in the Paris region.

On December 19 and 20, there were only nine left in the dock: seven men and two women, aged 28 to 77, most of them residents of Normandy. Facing them, the civil party which brings together Lafarge as well as a transport company.

For each of the defendants, the accusations related to damage, in particular by the injection of expanding foam into locks and machines, tags and the confinement of the site security agent in his office during the 10 minutes of the action. If the employee declared not to have been a victim of violence, it was this charge which was the most serious, punishable by 10 years in prison.

278,000 euros claimed by Lafarge

Through its lawyer, Maître Arnaud de Saint-Rémy, the concrete multinational estimates the total damage at 453,000 euros and is claiming 278,000 euros from the defendants as well as a symbolic euro in damages for the psychological harm that would have been suffered by site employees.

« It is the economy of society that is at stake. We may not agree, but can we attack production tools? ? » the lawyer said. According to the director of the Val-de-Reuil concrete plant, the factory was only able to resume its activity on January 30, 2024, almost two months after the events, at a reduced rate.

The shadow of information

For the defense, the investigation was allegedly marred by numerous irregularities. So, some of the detailed analyzes of phone bills — which include numbers called and sending history SMS — would have been carried out without requisition from a magistrate. Same observation for the use of automated license plate reading (Lapi), which made it possible to identify the suspects' cars around ten kilometers from the scene of the incident.

« 10,000 vehicles were flashed that day by this Lapi, how could we reduce it to 10 suspicious cars ? » questioned lawyer Aïnoha Pascual, who denounces a reverse investigation based on files from intelligence services on environmental activists. For her, these detections are inevitable given the number of people checked, and do not prove anything regarding the alleged facts.

Called to the stand, the nine defendants, rather than answering questions, each recited a statement: « I worked for the Comoros development council, I advised them on their strategy for adapting to global warming, I did not think that this region would be at the center of the news today »declared one of the accused in reference to Cyclone Chido. Continuing, the thirty-year-old continued, moved: « Even if I denounce the violence of our treatment, it is nothing compared to the collapse of life on the only planet we have. »

Another defendant described the conditions of his arrest: « I was pointed at with an assault rifle by police officers, I was asked to get on the ground then I was picked up and beaten for thirty seconds to a minute before telling me the facts with which I am accused ». Bad treatment which earned him four days ofITTdeclares his lawyer.

It was also noted during the investigation that one of the accused shared the article on social networks Reporterre — became for the occasion a « activist media » according to the judge — on the events of December 2023. For others, it is the presence in their library of a book by Joseph Proudhon or vegan recipes which were the subject of questions from the anti-terrorism .

Their collective strategy did not prevent the civil parties' lawyer from questioning them. To one of the accused, he asked: « I saw that the entrance to your house is made of concrete, you have a concrete block wall, can you explain that ? »

« We can't do everything in the name of fighting global warming »

« I am from Franche-Comté, when I was little, snow almost always fell there in this season, today this is no longer the case »he proclaims by way of introduction. In front of an audience hanging on his lips, the magistrate launches into an unexpected speech on the climate emergency and the government's inaction on the subject. « It is therefore legitimate, and I weigh my words carefully, that a certain number of our fellow citizens are fighting to draw the attention of others to this necessary fight. »he said.

Remembered by his function, the latter still calls for the sentencing of each of the accused to 6 months in prison and a fine of 300 euros: « It is a symbolic penalty that must be committed today to show that we cannot do everything in the name of the fight against global warming. »the state representative said.

« It's not a procedure, it's a trivial matter »

« The prosecutor does not consider the people who committed the act that day to be eco-terrorists but it is still he who contacted the Sdat »observed Maître Chloé Chalot at the opening of her pleading. For this defense lawyer, the entire procedure was built on a story largely fueled by documentation from the intelligence services, which abounds in the ecological commitments of the defendants and details the involvement of some of them in several struggles. In other words, that the file does not contain evidence, but only people deemed compatible with the actions taken against Lafarge.

« It's not a procedure, it's a trivial matter »for her part criticized Aïnoha Pascual, who also denounced an incriminating investigation and drew a parallel between this case and the fiasco of the Tarnac affair, which began in 2008 and which ended in a dismissal of the case in 2018 The relaxation requested here was ultimately not general.