Paris (AFP)

One month after the release of two "dropouts" in Lyon in the name of "the state of necessity" climate, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced Wednesday environmental activists to 500 euros each for the "flight meeting" of portraits of Emmanuel Macron.

The Single Judge found that "the state of necessity", rarely invoked and which allows for the exclusion of criminal responsibility "in the face of present and imminent danger", was "not constituted" and found guilty of these eight elderly activists from 23 to 36 years old, who will appeal.

This decision is the opposite of that made on 16 September in Lyon: the court surprised by judging "legitimate" action of civil disobedience of two "dropouts" in this city, "in the face of the lack of respect by the State objectives that can be perceived as minimal in a vital area ", and had relaxed them.

If he had recognized the materiality of the robbery, the judge of Lyon had affirmed that "the stall and the unauthorized removal of this portrait for a purpose dedicated exclusively to the defense of this cause (...) must be interpreted as the necessary substitute for impracticable dialogue between the President of the Republic and the people ".

The motives of the Paris court were not known at midday.

"We asked for a relaxe, I believed in this state of necessity, especially after the judgment of Lyon legitimizing civil disobedience," said Felix Vve, one of eight activists convicted in Paris.

Between Lyon and Paris, "it's day and night," said Alexandre Faro, one of the lawyers of the "dropouts". "The Lyon judgment has elicited a lot of comments (...) It is badly lived and I imagine that the Paris court wanted to reframe the debates on the law," he said.

- "Not consistent" -

Since the first trial of "dropouts" in late May in Bourg-en-Bresse, judgments are very disparate from one jurisdiction to another. Fines firm or suspended in the prefecture of Ain, relaxed for lack of "element intentional" in Strasbourg, "state of necessity" recognized in Lyon ...

"It's not really consistent to have different judgments while it's the same act committed," reacted a "drop-in", Emma Chevallier.

On 21 and 28 February in Paris, three presidential portraits were stolen from the town halls of the 3rd, 4th and 5th arrondissements, as part of a national campaign "Décrochons Macron", led by the non-violent Action COP21 movement (ANV- COP21).

As for the 130 or so "requisitions" symbolic claimed by the movement throughout France, the stalls were made in a few minutes, "face uncovered" and "without degradation".

The activists said they acted out of "moral duty" and because they had "no other choice" than "nonviolent civil disobedience", facing the "threat" of global warming and "inaction" government.

On September 11, the Paris prosecutor's office requested fines of 1,000 euros, including 500 euros suspended, against the eight activists, with a clean criminal record.

The same sentence had been requested against a 29-year-old videographer, the associative media "Share it's nice", present during one of the Parisian actions, "100% to film it, not to participate", had he assured the bar. The Criminal Court released him on Wednesday.

The town halls did not complain, "it is a robbery without a victim who is sentenced today," lamented Mr. Faro.

The amount of the fine is also considered "disproportionate": "We are collectively to pay 4,000 euros for a portrait that is worth 9.90," said Cécile Marchand. "The real culprit is the government that fails to protect the population from the climate threat," said the activist.

According to ANV-COP21, a dozen other trials of "dropouts" are planned until September 2020.

© 2019 AFP