The former presidential candidate may well come and sign his book. The administrative court of Lyon on Friday suspended the decree prohibiting the holding of a signing session by Éric Zemmour, for his new book “I did not say my last word”, Saturday in Villeurbanne (Rhône) , taken by the socialist town hall which fears a risk of overflows.
“I take note of the decision of the administrative judge. As soon as they decide to maintain their event, I call on the organizers to take responsibility”, reacted in a press release the PS mayor of this town adjoining Lyon, Cédric Van Styvendael.
Taken on Wednesday, his decree was immediately attacked by a “freedom summary” of Reconquest, of which Éric Zemmour is the president. In its order, the court considered “that it does not follow from the instruction that the Reconquête association would not have taken the necessary measures for the smooth running of the event” in terms of security service and reception in a room of the CCVA (cultural center and associative life) that can accommodate “up to 550 people”.
A “risk to public order” not established
He also considered that a possible “risk to public order” had not been established after a call for a declared demonstration by the anti-fascist group “La Jeune Garde”, very active in Lyon, at the same place and a press release in particular from the Municipal CGT of Villeurbanne. The union had considered Thursday the arrival of Éric Zemmour as a “provocation on his part in municipal equipment”.
According to the court, the prefect of the Rhône had also joined the case by evoking the “extremely violent behavior” of “ultra-left risk groups” during the latest demonstrations against the pension reform. In a tweet on Friday evening, posted after the court’s decision, the latter also indicated that a “prohibition of demonstration perimeter was taken around the site to prevent the risk of disturbances to public order”.
But concerning Éric Zemmour, the town hall and the prefecture “do not establish”, according to the court, that his arrival in Villeurbanne (…) could generate disturbances to public order justifying the disputed prohibition measure “. The court therefore enjoins the mayor of Villeurbanne to “make the room in question available to the association Reconquête”, Saturday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“I asked the prefectural services for police to be deployed around the room and in Villeurbanne,” said Cédric Van Styvendael. During the hearing, the Reconquest council, Pierre-Etienne Moullé, considered that the banning of the socialist municipality was “an attempt to dress up a political decision”.