Eight “dropouts” of Macron’s portraits released on appeal
Eight “dropouts” of presidential portraits of Emmanuel Macron in four Gironde town halls in May 2019 were released on Wednesday April 27 by the Toulouse Court of Appealaccording to the ANV-COP 21 collective to which these activists belong.
“It’s a fairly important victory for freedom of expression,” Eric Payen of ANV-COP 21 told AFP who, by “winning” these portraits, intended to denounce the government’s “inaction” in the face of “climate emergency”.
Convicted of gang robbery and complicity in gang robbery
These eight people had been fined ranging from 250 to 600 euros on September 16, 2020 by the Bordeaux Court of Appeal. They had been found guilty of reunion flight and of complicity in meeting theftafter having “taken down” portraits of the President of the Republic in four town halls in the Arcachon basin.
Their action was part of the national campaign “Let’s pick up Macron” during which, according to ANV-COP 21, “151 portraits were taken down”. The Bordeaux Court of Appeal had notably demonstrated that freedom of expression could never justify an infringement.
However, the Court of Cassation considered, on September 22, 2021, that get a portrait of the President of the Republic to denounce France’s (in)action on climate change could not be assimilated to theft and fall within the scope of freedom of expression. She had therefore quashed the decision and the appeal of the “dropouts” was retried in Toulouse on February 15.
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