In 2018 and 2019, more than 40,000 people were convicted of various offenses and offenses "on the basis of vague laws", frequently "used to illegally restrict the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression", Amnesty International said in a report published on Tuesday September 29.

The NGO documents on 56 pages dozens of cases of peaceful demonstrators "arbitrarily arrested" and "victims of judicial harassment", according to Amnesty, during the period of popular mobilization of yellow vests and against the pension reform.

Frédéric Vuillaume, union official of Force Ouvrière et Gilet Jaune from the very beginning in Besançon, tells of a "descent into hell" for him and his family, who had never had to deal with "neither the police nor the justice" before the demonstrations of November 2018. "It's true that I have a big mouth and that when I speak on the megaphone, I can be heard, but that does not make me a criminal, I have never committed any violence" , assures AFP this 48-year-old maintenance agent.

"I was just relaying messages on Facebook calling for mobilization, like everyone else," he says.

But the prefecture and the prosecution did not hear it that way.

Accused of being one of the "leaders" of the movement in his city, he should, according to them, have declared the gatherings.

"Make examples"

Police custody, house searches, court summons ... A long cycle of "pressure blows" and "intimidation" which will last two years then began for the activist and his relatives.

Tried three times for obstructing traffic and insulting a person holding public authority - he shouted "Castaner assassin" during a trip by the Minister of the Interior at the time - Frédéric Vuillaume was banned from demonstrating and ordered to pay a total of eight fines.

His wife was indicted twice and his 22-year-old stepson, with a clean criminal record, was sentenced in February 2019 to one year in prison, including six months closed for throwing a mortar firecracker.

"Violence during demonstrations is a legitimate concern, but there is a political will to set examples and dissuade people from taking to the streets," Marco Perolini, researcher for France at Amnesty International, told AFP.

The offenses, often formulated "too vaguely", lead the courts to pronounce "disproportionate" sanctions against peaceful demonstrators, according to the researcher.

In addition, "the demonstrators find themselves regularly arrested and prosecuted for 'regrouping with a view to participating in violence' on the basis of mere suspicion," he adds.

According to official statistics, 1,192 people were convicted of this offense in 2019.

Restrictions on the right to demonstrate

Julien and Gilles were arrested and searched on February 17, 2019, as they reached a roundabout blockage in Toulouse.

In their pockets, police found flares, a ski mask and a dust mask.

After twenty-four hours in police custody, the two forties were prosecuted for "participating in a gathering to prepare for violence" and "carrying smoke without legitimate aim".

Released on bail, they no longer had the right to set foot in Toulouse while awaiting trial.

Two months later, the criminal court declared the proceedings "null and void".

But again, the prosecution appealed the decision.

They were finally acquitted for lack of evidence in December 2019.

"I think twice before attending a demonstration, since today we can end up in prison without having done anything", testifies Gilles, on condition of anonymity in the report.

According to Amnesty, the repression of demonstrators has increased with the adoption of new laws, notably that of April 2019, criminalizing behavior that was not previously a crime, such as covering the face.

In 2020, the health crisis was an opportunity to further extend restrictions on the right to demonstrate: according to the NGO, 85 people were fined for demonstrating in May and June.

With AFP

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