Toulouse. Disabled activists who blocked airport condemned
Fifteen activists of the disabled cause are sentenced to fines by the Toulouse Court of Appeal, Thursday, October 27, for having blocked the airport and the station.
The Toulouse Court of Appeal sentenced, Thursday, October 27, fifteen activists of the disabled cause to firm fines of up to 600 euros and suspended fines for protest actions in 2018. They thus meant to state the inaccessibility of transport and housing.
The activists are accused of having invaded a runway at Toulouse-Blagnac airport. Air traffic had been interrupted for an hour, impacting nearly 200 travelers. They are also accused of having blocked a train track at the Matabiau station in 2018. A TGV for Paris was delayed by one hour.
Sentences reduced on appeal for activists of the disabled cause
In the first instance, activists for the disabled cause received sentences ranging from 750 euros suspended to six months suspended prison sentence. The sentences were reduced on appeal. At the hearing held on June 30the Advocate General Marie-Charlotte Trébuchet had requested “suspended financial fines (which) would be the best solution for all the defendants, except for Mr. Maurin for whom a suspended prison sentence is justified in particular so that these facts are not reproduced” .
The latter is president of Handi Social, activist for the cause of people with disabilities and figure of the Yellow Vests in Toulouse. Odile Maurin had been described by the Advocate General as the “thinking head” of the actions and the public ministry. She was sentenced to a fine of 600 euros firm and 1,400 euros suspended, against six months in prison suspended at first instance.
Towards the Court of Cassation?
The defense lawyers had pleaded “the state of necessity” to justify the actions of the activists and “the right to freedom of expression”. “We are fighting for the law to be applied and today we find ourselves in court…”, was moved by a defendant.
After the announcement of the court’s decision, Odille Maurin told AFP “We will discuss with our lawyers, but we will probably seize the Court of Cassation and the European Court of Human Rights. »