2023-04-27 11:07:20
The hearing was to be held at 8:30 a.m., it did not have time to start. The prefect of Doubs withdrew this Thursday morning his prefectural decree taken on Tuesday as part of the presidential visit of Emmanuel Macron which must take place during the day in La-Cluse-et-Mijoux, at the Château de Joux, on the occasion of the ceremony of the 175th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in France. This prefectural decree provided in particular for the establishment of a protection perimeter in respect of the existence of a terrorist threat, as well as the prohibition to demonstrate in it.
The text was attacked by several associations, including the League of Human Rights, and a hearing was to be held this Thursday morning before the administrative court of Besançon to obtain the suspension of the text, within the framework of a summary-freedom. It will therefore not be necessary, after the prefect has published a new order withdrawing the previous one.
It is to be assumed that this choice was motivated by the suspension obtained on Tuesday by the same applicants before the administrative court of Orléans concerning the prefectural decree issued for the visit of the Head of State in the Loir-et-Cher .
Indeed, the prefect of Doubs relied on legislative provisions similar to those used by his counterpart in Loir-et-Cher, while justice had estimated Tuesday that “no sufficient public interest” justified the use of a perimeter of protection, a measure provided for in the event of “the existence of a risk of acts of terrorism”.
Demonstrations are no longer prohibited
In the case of Doubs this Thursday, the measure does not seem appropriate either according to Serge Slama, professor of public law at the University of Grenoble-Alpes: “Emmanuel Macron will be in a castle in height, it is much simpler to secure, there was no need for a protective perimeter. It is a form of anticipation to secure the premises. The prefects issue decrees out of habit, when there is no risk. »
The withdrawal of the decree therefore implies that demonstrations are no longer prohibited in the municipality of La-Cluse-et-Mijoux. People wishing to demonstrate can thus do so on an individual basis and their presence cannot be penalized with a report if there is no disturbance of public order. The same goes for the presence of “portable sound devices”, which are no longer prohibited. The police can only order the dispersal of demonstrators in the event of a disturbance of public order.
The associations which had attacked the decree remain “vigilant”
“For the moment, the prefect has not formally published the withdrawal order in the collection of administrative acts, so we are very vigilant to know if a new order will be taken”, reacted Serge Slama, very active on the questions relating to the freedoms to demonstrate. “The principle is not the ban on demonstrations, but freedom,” he recalls. People have the right to demonstrate, peacefully of course. In a democracy, you should be able to do that. »
The academic deplores that “prohibitions are becoming systematic”: “Freedom is normally the rule, and here we are making prohibition a rule. So we are taking action to restore order. »
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