Two CGT activists released for power outages will be retried

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP 7:45 p.m., February 6, 2024

In its decision, the court found in particular that the presence of the two Enedis employees in the electrical room was not "demonstrated" and that no damage had been committed by the demonstrators when cutting off the power. But the two activists will be retried.

Two CGT activists acquitted for power cuts in Bordeaux during demonstrations against pension reform in spring 2023 will be retried, AFP learned Tuesday from the prosecution, which appealed. Prosecuted for endangering the lives of others and aggravated damage to the property of others, the two CGT Energie trade unionists were acquitted by the criminal court in January, even though the public prosecutor had requested sentences of 18 years against them. month suspended prison sentence.

In its decision, the court found in particular that the presence of the two Enedis employees in the electrical room was not "demonstrated" and that no damage had been committed by the demonstrators when cutting off the power. “They are appealing, there will be a new hearing, which will be recorded,” reacted to AFP Me Magali Bisiau, lawyer for the two trade unionists, saying she saw in this appeal a reflection of the “political” importance of the case.

The town hall, the judicial court and a hospital, deprived of electricity 

“The prosecution considered that it was necessary to appeal despite the reasoning in the (first instance) judgment, which was well judged, well reasoned,” she said. “They still want to go to the end by believing that this type of release should not be allowed to pass, because it can have effects on other social movements” and “set a precedent,” she said. analysis.

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In March 2023, voluntary cuts, partially claimed by CGT Energie, affected several thousand customers in Bordeaux. The town hall, the judicial court and a hospital were deprived of electricity. For the public prosecutor, these cuts were "a premeditated union objective", validated in advance at the general assembly, and had exposed patients "to a risk of death or injury".

A disciplinary procedure initiated by Enedis

Saint-André Hospital estimated that its patients placed on respirators had been put in danger between the moment the electricity was cut and the moment, a few minutes later, when a generator took over. The two defendants, including the departmental secretary of the CGT Energie Christophe Garcia, refuted at the hearing that they were among the people who entered the electrical substation.

According to their lawyer, these two employees, "very affected" by the legal proceedings, are also subject to disciplinary proceedings initiated by Enedis. “It really impacted them and their family,” she argued. “They are used to union fighting, but they have been marked. And there, they have a future fight called the disciplinary council”, scheduled for February, she concluded.