The Paris administrative court, seized in summary proceedings, found wrong on Saturday the prefect of police who wanted to ban a union rally near the Stade de France for the final of the French football cup, which Emmanuel Macron must attend.
The prefect of police did not provide "sufficient elements concerning the risks of disturbances to public order or specific difficulties in his missions of maintaining order", in the face of demonstrators who only announced a "simple distribution of leaflets against the pension reform by a limited number of people", underlined the court, in its decision consulted by AFP.
The unions and the Human Rights League, which had taken legal action, are therefore "founded in maintaining that the prefect of police has seriously and manifestly illegally undermined the freedom to demonstrate", added the court, which consequently suspended the decree of the prefect Laurent Nuñez.
The prefect “takes note of the ordinance”, indicated the police headquarters to AFP, specifying that it had planned “in any case a suitable device to ensure calm access for spectators to the stadium”.
"Intersyndicale 1, Emmanuel Macron 0", for their part commented in a press release the applicants, who see in this decision, made just hours before the kick-off of the match, "a victory for the respect of freedoms ".
“The trade unions will thus be able to act within the framework of their freedom of expression and go to meet the public of the Stade de France, to distribute their material”, continues the press release.
The unions had notably planned to distribute on Saturday, at the exit of the metro and RER stations serving the stadium, some 30,000 red cards and 10,000 whistles to allow spectators to express their dissatisfaction with the head of state.
Whistles are certainly prohibited inside the stadium by the regulations of the French Football Federation, observed in this regard the administrative court, but "checks will be carried out for this purpose at the entrance", he said. argued.
Around 5:00 p.m., the distribution of red cards and whistles had actually started around the stadium, AFP journalists noted. "The order has been suspended," hammered an activist for a policeman, adding: "we have the right to be there. We are not doing anything wrong".
29/04/2023 18:35:37 - Paris (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
