The activists of the Handi-Social association tried by the Toulouse judicial court for invading the airport tracks and the SNCF tracks.

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BC / 20 Minutes

If they wanted to demonstrate the difficulties of accessibility for people with disabilities in public places, the courtroom of the Toulouse judicial court provided them with a good example.

Sixteen people were summoned on Tuesday, some of them in wheelchairs, for having invaded the SNCF tracks of the Matabiau station in October 2018, then, two months later, the tracks of Toulouse-Blagnac airport.

With each time in sight the defense of the rights of disabled people, violated according to them at the time by the Elan Law.

Accessibility of the court

“Today, the court is not up to standards in terms of accessibility, this hearing is not legal.

A person needs an interpreter, and does not have one.

Do we consider that they should not be treated in the same way as other litigants?

It is up to the courts to adopt, not the other way around, ”said one of the defendants' lawyers, Arié Alimi, at the start of his nullity request.

The other lawyers continued by insisting on the fact that the sanitary standards of the room were not met during the Covid-19 period, the gauge exceeded, stressing in passing that the court could have organized itself upstream to find a room larger to house all the defendants, but also their personal assistants.

In response, the President reduced the number of people in the room, the defendants, their lawyers and those of the defense.

This did not prevent the activists from coming back each time they had their say on "the institutional violence" they suffer on a daily basis.

“With the Elan Law, we have the impression of being sub-citizens, it is a decline in our rights.

When we live with our parents, we receive the full disabled adult allowance, but when we have a spouse, its level depends on its resources.

They accuse us of having hindered the movement of planes for an hour, we have been hampered in our movements for 40 years, ”lamented just before the start of the trial Yann Jolivet, an activist of the Handi-Social association .

Press conference: speech by @kevin_fermine



"I came here to say that I blocked a train and invaded the tracks because I had totally legitimate reasons and that I am fed up with being taken from us today" hui for sub-citizens »pic.twitter.com/D2V2HIi0rN

- Nikola Dobric 🔻 (@Nikola_Dbrc) March 23, 2021

“It is the trial of accessibility and the trial of our rights.

We take responsibility for our actions, we know that it is illegal to cross the runways of an airport.

I am 29 years old, we waited for the 2005 law, then the 2015 deadline. We are in 2021 and there is still nothing, today we are promised 2024 ”, continued angrily Kévin Fermine , which had already sued SNCF on the issue of train accessibility.

The 16 defendants face up to five in prison and several thousand fines and damages, requested both by SNCF, the company managing the airport and Air France.

Toulouse

VIDEO.

Toulouse: "Angry disabled" enter the airport runways

Toulouse

Toulouse: They risk prison and a heavy fine, disabled people stage the "burial" of their rights

  • Trial

  • Court

  • Handicap

  • Toulouse-Blagnac Airport

  • SNCF

  • Accessibility

  • Toulouse

  • Justice