Eight activists from the ANV-Cop21 environmental defense movement are on trial this Tuesday, February 15 at 1 p.m. before the Toulouse Court of Appeal for having taken down the portraits of the President of the Republic in certain Gironde town halls. All hope for release in the name of freedom of expression.

Eight activists from the Action-Non-Violentes-Cop21 association (ANV-Cop21) will be presented before the Court of Appeal for “aggravated theft” after having taken down portraits of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, in several town halls in the basin. of Arcachon in 2019.

Through this non-violent action called “Decrochons Macron”, the protagonists wish to be reported “the government’s inaction on the climate emergency and the failure to respect the commitments made by France during COP 21“.

“We took down the portraits of the President to illustrate his own failure to meet his climate commitments”

Gaëtan, ANV-COP21 activist

The ANV-Cop21 action was created in 2019, as part of the yellow vests movement. “The demonstrators were described as anti-environmentalists because they refused the application of the carbon tax. We are here to remind you that before accusing people who do their best to get to work, the government supports them and subsidizes big polluting industries“, specifies Gaëtan, 31, judged on Tuesday. In total, at the national level, 134 portraits of Emmanuel Macron were taken down from their town hall.

The eight activists were tried and sentenced by the Bordeaux Criminal Court in December 2019 to penalties of up to 600 euros. They lost on appeal in 2020 before the Court of Cassation accepted their appeal and therefore canceled the decision previously rendered. She revealed that the Court of Appeal had not sought “if the criminal incrimination of the behaviors followed did not constitute (…) a disproportionate attack on the freedom of expression of the defendants”.

Venus of Bordeaux by bike, the defendants will be tried this Tuesday, February 15 at 1 p.m. at the Toulouse Court of Appeal.

In case of release, the eight activists hope “a decision that would serve as case law in the future“.”Above all, we must show that the subject of the climate crisis is important and that it is not fought enough in France“, reports Gaëtan.

Elsewhere in France, some “dropouts” have already been released. In Amiens, the court ruled : the action committed by the activist is a matter of freedom of expression and not an offence.

The eight Girondin activists thus hope for a release this afternoon.