Supporters of Alain Fontanel remove the stickers deposited by the demonstrators on his campaign premises on January 11. - Nils Wilcke

  • A "yellow vest" was sentenced on Tuesday to three months suspended prison sentence for having damaged a window in the campaign room of the candidate LREM in Strasbourg.
  • At the helm, this computer scientist in his thirties, with no criminal record, admits being struck against the glass during the demonstration but denies having struck the blow which damaged it.
  • His lawyer, who was pleading to reclassify the offense as a simple contravention, was not heard. The court also sentenced the protester to a one-month suspended prison sentence for refusing to undergo a DNA test.

A "yellow vest" was sentenced on Tuesday to three months suspended prison sentence by the Strasbourg Criminal Court for having degraded the campaign premises of the candidate LREM for municipal elections.

Alain Fontanel's campaign headquarters, located on the Quai des Bateliers, dubbed the “Happy City Factory”, became the preferred target of protesters against pension reform. They have got into the habit of covering the windows of the room with stickers and sharing the photos taken on this occasion on social networks, the local press echoing them over the weeks. Bad publicity which aroused the annoyance of the candidate's support.

Starry glass

An additional level had been crossed when the glass of the room was starry during the demonstration of Saturday January 11. The candidate had complained in the process.

In Strasbourg, the premises of the candidate LREM Alain Fontanel degraded three times, protected by the police during the demonstration against the pension reform https://t.co/vTbQts3Tt5 #LREM #Strasbourg #Retraites # Greve16janvier

- Nils Wilcke (@paul_denton) January 16, 2020

The police had arrested at the end of the demonstration and placed in custody a man whom they suspected of being the perpetrator. Referred on January 13 for the head of “voluntary degradation of private property”, this demonstrator was summoned to court on Tuesday. He arrived at the court accompanied by supporters, activists and trade unionists.

"I wanted to challenge people inside the premises"

At the helm, this computer scientist in his thirties, with no criminal record, admitted to having knocked on the glass during the demonstration, but denied having struck the blow which damaged it. "I only wanted to arrest the people who were in the local," he told the court. Why did you hit the window? "Sticking stickers like the other demonstrators do, it seemed to me so paltry in the face of what is happening in our country," said the defendant.

Deputy Prosecutor Anne-Sophie Lachkar recalled that an individual wearing a hood and a black coat with a red beard was identified as the defendant on the images of the video surveillance and that a ball bearing was found by the police in his pocket during his arrest. She asked for suspended prison terms, six months in prison for the damage and three months for refusing to undergo a DNA test.

His lawyer, Me Sendegül Arras, pleaded to reclassify the offense as a simple contravention. "In this case, the intentionality has not been demonstrated," she assured the court. Which did not follow his reasoning ... and further sentenced the protester to an additional month in prison suspended for refusing to submit to a DNA test.

Municipal

Municipal in 2020 in Strasbourg: The mayor calls for calm in the face of "threats" and "intimidation"

Strasbourg

Strasbourg: The premises of the candidate LREM too often degraded, the course of the protests against the pension reform is modified

  • Yellow vests
  • Elections
  • LREM
  • Justice
  • Municipal
  • Strasbourg