FRANCE: 50 lawyers defend their colleague in police custody

(Translated from French / On ne se taira pas) Another step in the repression of opponents of the burial of nuclear waste in Bure: a lawyer searched and taken into custody. In his defence, 50 of his colleagues, from all the bars in France, denounced the repressive methods and recalled “the right to defend themselves and the right to defend”.

Several searches and arrests have been carried out since this Tuesday morning in at least five houses of activists opposed to the Cigéo nuclear waste burial project, including the emblematic “Maison de la Résistance” located in the commune of Bure. Seven of them are reportedly being held in police custody at the present time, for facts that date back several months and are the subject of judicial investigation.

Even more worrying, the lawyer of many activists was himself arrested this morning during a search at his Parisian office and placed in police custody. Such a procedure not only undermines the right to an effective defence but also constitutes a serious challenge to the full exercise of the profession of lawyer, although guaranteed by law and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.

While searches, arrests and convictions have increased in the Meuse since last winter, the scale and gravity of today’s police action mark a new stage in the repression of opposition movements to the Cigéo project. We strongly denounce these disproportionate and shocking methods that trample on the most essential fundamental freedoms: the right to defend oneself and the right to defend.

We, lawyers, fully associate ourselves with the call for a rally initiated by the anti-nuclear associations at 6 p.m. this Tuesday, June 20, in front of all the prefectures and in Paris, Place Saint Michel.

Xavier SAUVIGNET (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Matteo BONAGLIA (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Aïnoha PASCUAL (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Lucie SIMON (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Raphaël KEMPF (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Alice BECKER (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Chloé CHALOT (lawyer at the Rouen Bar)

Laurence ROQUES (lawyer at the Val de Marne Bar, President of the Syndicat des Avocats de France)

Anis HARABI (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Emilie BONVARLET (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Samuel DELALANDE (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Pierre HURIET (lawyer at the Nantes Bar)

Muriel RUEF (lawyer at the Lille Bar)

Martin MÉCHIN (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Claire DUJARDIN (lawyer at the Toulouse Bar)

Florence ALLIGIER (lawyer at the Lyon Bar)

Claude COUTAZ (lawyer at the Grenoble Bar)

Ariana BOBETIC (lawyer at the Seine Saint Denis Bar)

Antoine GATET (lawyer, France Nature Environnement movement)

Louis COFFLARD (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Jean-Louis BORIE (lawyer at the Clermont-Ferrand Bar)

Thomas DUBREUIL (lawyer at the Bar of Vannes)

Charlotte BRUNET (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Guillaume GREZE (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Sandrine GELIS (lawyer at the Mont-de-Marsan Bar)

Miriana MILICH (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Sophie MAZAS (lawyer at the Montpellier Bar)

Priscilla MIGNARD (lawyer at the Laval Bar)

Pauline GILLIET (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Céline BRONZANI (lawyer at the Aix-en-Provence Bar)

Alice TERRASSE (lawyer at the Toulouse Bar)

Antoine LAPLANE (lawyer at the Nantes Bar)

Mathieu VICTORIA (lawyer at the Aix-en-Provence Bar)

Alexandre FARO (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Adélaïde JACQUIN (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Emeline GIORDANO (lawyer at the Aix-en-Provence Bar)

Adrien MAMÈRE (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Anne-Caroline CHICHE (lawyer at the Lille Bar)

Brigitte JEANNOT (lawyer at the Nancy Bar)

Clémentine PERROS (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Sébastien MABILE (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Laure GALINON (lawyer at the Toulouse Bar)

Simon DENIS (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Florence BOUCHET (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Arié ALIMI (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Pauline JUSTER (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Daphné VAGOGNE (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Aurélie MARCEL (lawyer at the Grenoble Bar)

Marie ROCH (lawyer at the Paris Bar)

Josselin GUILLON (student lawyer)

Emmanuel WORMSER (lawyer at the Lyon Bar)

Janaïna LEYMARIE (lawyer at the Toulouse Bar)

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator