The Parisian demonstration of several teacher unions, scheduled for Thursday January 20, to demand "strong responses" in the face of the "chaos" caused by the health crisis, has been banned by the Paris police headquarters.

The statement was made "out of time", we learned on Tuesday, January 18, from concordant sources.

"The prefect of police (...) did not ban the demonstration" but could not "issue a receipt" to the organizers whose prior declaration was not filed within the "legal deadlines", namely more than three days before the day of mobilization, according to the code of internal security, underlined the prefecture in a press release.

The Prefecture of Police, which says it only received the statement this Tuesday at "12:20 p.m.", invites the organizers to "draw the consequences of the law".

The organizers of a prohibited demonstration incur, according to the Penal Code, six months' imprisonment and a fine of 7,500 euros.

Participants risk a fine of 135 euros.

According to a source familiar with the matter, "they were counting on each other to make the declaration, suddenly they are out of time".

A gracious appeal sent by the unions

The unions FSU, CGT Educ'action, FO and SUD Education, as well as the FCPE, the first organization of parents of pupils, and the high school student movements FIDL, MNL and La Voix lycéenne called for "continuing the mobilization" after the very followed by last Thursday, committing "to a new day of action on Thursday, including by strike".

Unacceptable ban on the Parisian education event scheduled for January 20 by the Paris prefecture!

The CGT demands that constitutional law be respected!

#protest #manifestationjan20janvier#ban #banmonif20janvier pic.twitter.com/g0yW68aZ2P

– CGT-Éduc'action (@cgt_educ) January 18, 2022

"The Paris police headquarters refuses to authorize the demonstration organized by the inter-union of Île-de-France. Not content to remain deaf to the anger and the demands of the personnel of the National Education, the government, through its representative, denies them the right to express it by demonstrating in Paris", regrets the CGT in a press release. 

The union considers this decision of the prefect of police "unacceptable" and says "demand that the constitutional right to demonstrate be respected".

"After a successful demonstration on January 13, the police prefecture banned the expression of staff demands following the announcements made by the Prime Minister (...) The FSU strongly protests and demands that the ban on demonstrations be lifted," the union said in another statement.

Faced with this ban on demonstrations, the FO union said "maintain (ir) (its) wish to gather in front of the Ministry of Education, that same day, Thursday".

"The reason for this refusal being the failure to respect the too short deadlines between our request and the date of the event, we would like to point out that the deadlines were even shorter between the decision to put in place the last health protocol in the establishments and its implementation," the union wrote in a statement.

A graceful appeal was sent by the unions.

With AFP

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