Riester and politicians denounce the impediment of a Dutch conference in Lille

Paris (AFP)

Culture Minister Franck Riester and political leaders were shocked Tuesday at the intrusion of dozens of demonstrators, denouncing the precariousness of students in the law school of Lille where they prevented the holding of a conference of François Hollande.

Four days after the immolation of a student in Lyon in front of the headquarters of Crous, several demonstrations took place in France on Tuesday.

In the North, some 300 to 400 people gathered at midday in front of Crous de Lille, before parading in the streets and then entering the law school, where they prevented to hold a conference of François Hollande on the crisis of democracy.

The former President of the Republic was not in the room at the time of the intrusion. The protesters chanted "Lyon, Lyon, neither forgetfulness nor forgiveness", "Holland assassin!", "Precariousness kills, all responsible", noted an AFP journalist.

Some of them tore up and threw away pages from François Hollande's book, "Answering the Democratic Crisis" (Fayard / Terra Nova).

"They force the doors of an amphitheater, ransack books and prevent a former President of the Republic from speaking in a university", reacted Franck Riester on Twitter, adding: "Intolerable obstacle to the freedom of expression and freedom to debate! "

The first secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure abounded on the social network: "To prevent the debate in a university which is the very place of the free controversy is an attack on our common values".

According to him, aiming the socialists on student precariousness is irrelevant: "Today, which reflects on student poverty, socialist departments wishing to experiment with a basic income open to under-25s unlike RSA".

Former spokeswoman EELV and vice president of the University of Lille Sandrine Rousseau also described the event as "unworthy, insulting and shameful": "The university is a place of debate and freedom. We hear that it stays the same, "she wrote on Twitter.

As for the president of Debout France Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, he lambasted "leftist censorship" while Francois Hollande "must be able to express himself freely".

The deputy LR of Pas-de-Calais Pierre-Henri Dumont also criticized "the extreme left", which "deprives" "of speech a former President of the Republic".

© 2019 AFP