Indignity and fraternity. If two words were needed to characterize the hearing held on Thursday June 30 in the imposing room of the Toulouse Court of Appeal, these two could do the trick. Indignity first, because the memory of the trial at first instance, baptized the “trial of shame” by the activists, activists and allies of the Handi-Social association, was still burning.

On March 23, 2021, sixteen people, including ten with disabilities, had appeared in court, accused of having participated in one or both operations scheduled for October 24 and December 14, 2018. The first took place on the railway tracks of the Matabiau station with the effect of “disturbing or hindering” […] the starting or running of trains”. The second on the tarmac of Toulouse-Blagnac airport, where they and they had “trained hindered […] navigation or movement of aircraft”.

Actions adapted to the times with the aim of “denouncing the major setbacks in the rights of people with disabilities” and attracting media and political attention to issues of mobility and accessibility. At the heart of the target, the Elan law promulgated on November 23, 2018, which drastically lowers the threshold for the number of new housing units accessible to people with disabilities.

Odile Maurin and 4 other defendants, accompanied by their lawyer David Nabet-Martin, June 29, 2022. © Photo Emmanuel Riondé for Mediapart

At first instance, on May 19, 2021, the court handed down sentences ranging from two to six months in prison. . .