Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credits: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP 11:41 a.m., January 29, 2024

Students blockade Sciences Po Paris on Monday morning, but also the political studies institutes of Reims, Nancy, Poitiers and Le Havre, to protest against the return and demand the resignation of Mathias Vicherat, targeted by an investigation for domestic violence.

 “Two Sciences Po Paris sites are blocked by around fifty students, out of a total of 9,000 students,” the management of the establishment told AFP, according to which the campuses of “Reims, Nancy, Poitiers, Le Havre are also blocked. But the management affirms that “the courses are still provided remotely”. In front of the entrance to the main Sciences Po Paris building, at 27 rue Saint Guillaume, in the 7th arrondissement, trash cans, barriers, bicycles and pallets were piled up by around thirty students present, AFP noted. 

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“Vicherat resignation”

On the walls of the building, posters reading “Vicherat resignation” were pasted. On a banner was written: “Protected professors, abandoned victims”, or even “Sciences Po, paradise of impunity”. “We are here to protest against the end of the period of withdrawal of the director which lasted only during the holidays,” regretted Inês Fontenelle, of the Student Union. Mathias Vicherat and his ex-partner Anissa Bonnefont, who mutually accused each other of domestic violence, were taken into police custody on December 3 before being released the next day. A preliminary investigation was ordered by the Paris prosecutor's office. The director had proposed to withdraw on December 11. Students returned to school on Monday after a period of exams and vacation.

“We hope that Mathias Vicherat will take his responsibilities and resign in order to restore a climate of trust with the students which has been broken,” added the student. A little further, a research Master's student in sociology, who did not wish to give her identity, believes that "this return is an insult to the victims of sexist and sexual violence, to the staff of Sciences Po and to its student community" . Shortly after his arrival at the head of Science Po at the end of 2021, its director declared the fight against this violence as an “absolute priority”. An exceptional institute council is planned for Tuesday noon, as well as an exceptional board of directors Wednesday afternoon, according to consistent sources.