On March 22, the Dernier Rénovation movement organized a symbolic action
in the prefecture of Indre-et-Loire to raise awareness of the climateemergency. The repression that activists suffered was very real. ---- OnMarch 22, 2023, around 12:30 p.m., five citizens supporting the LastRenovation (DR) campaign, a "civil resistance" movement, painted theprefecture of Indre-et-Loire orange, using fire extinguishers andbrooms. On their t-shirts, two inscriptions: "We have 735 days left" and"Resist is vital". Seven hundred and thirty-five days before thetheoretical tipping point beyond which we will no longer be able toreturn below 1.5°C of global warming (according to the 2018 IPCC specialreport). France is already at 1.7°C.In a non-violent posture, the five activists, aged 19 to 28, knelt andwaited for the police. The action was carried out openly, the factsfully assumed. Their claim? A concrete and ambitious plan for thethermal renovation of buildings, inspired by one of the axes of theCitizens' Climate Convention (CCC). Remember that thermal strainers areresponsible for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions, and that around 11,000people die each year from poor insulation in their homes! Ultimately,this measure would not only be an ecological step forward but also asocial victory.State hypocrisyThe State, although doubly condemned for climate inaction, had untilDecember 31, 2022 to present a concrete action plan. Unsurprisingly,nothing was done. In the fall of 2022, a substantial budget for thethermal renovation of buildings was finally voted on in the NationalAssembly - a budget cut arbitrarily by yet another 49-3 vote from theexecutive. The DR campaign then posed an ultimatum to the State: bytaking the local state symbols of four prefectures (Tours, Nantes, Lyonand Toulouse) and painting them over, they showed that the State is guilty.The five were violently arrested by the police in front of the media:thrown into trucks, sometimes dragged on the ground, notably resultingin a chest contusion. Last Renovation, Earth Uprisings: two verydifferent tactics for the same vision with a common result: freewheelingrepression.Taken into police custody, they will come out after 28 hours, with twoof them being summoned to court on August 22 for a trial, and for theother three alternative measures to prosecution consisting of in 1700euros in damages and 70 hours of community service. The three refusealternative measures, and decide to join their comrades for a trial, inline with the voluntary GMO reapers.In court for paintOn August 22, the five painters met at the end of the morning in frontof the Tours court to welcome the water convoy, which was stopping inthe city. The struggles converge and many heads follow one another onthe esplanade to speak, support the defendants, and condemn this trialas well as the one to come in Niort for water activists. Local electedofficials reaffirm their support but few are really trying to preventthis trial, which is nonsense. Last, it is the defendants who speak,followed by their lawyers, who have come from Paris to defend them: theywill ask for release by pleading the state of necessity.Four hours of hearing, a full room, activists from other organizationswho came to support will not be able to enter. The civil parties arebarely present: the prefecture has no lawyers, the departmental councilis only represented by its lawyer, and Tours Métropole is not present,indicating their disinterest in the substance of an eminently policy.The five activists and their supporters on the day of the trial.Latest RenovationThe prefecture does not seek damages and relies on the opinion of theprosecution for a sentence. The departmental council provides a rathervague estimate (not an invoice, a quote!), involving the completerenovation of its gate, and claims 25,000 euros in damages, adding some2,000 euros in moral damages. Clearly, the departmental council wants toinvoice the repair of its golden gate at the expense of the defendants(the buildings occupied by the prefecture belong to the departmentalcouncil and the ground in front of the Metropolis).The judge, who recognizes the state of climate emergency, refuses torecognize the state of necessity, hiding her face. According to her,such means are not necessary in a democratic state and the defendantsshould have started by "writing a book" (sic) or "seizing the nationalassembly", and why not a flashmob? The judge, a good specialist ineverything, will go so far as to say that such actions would aggravatethe climate catastrophe, laughing, there, in the face of all thescientific consensuses and the IPCC which agree on the need for civilresistance and call for fight for a livable world.The defendants will have told him "the important thing today is not tojudge us but to know which side of history we want to place ourselveson". But the judge chose her side of the story, sentencing thedefendants to a fine of 1,000 euros each, and 25,000 euros in damages insolidium. They will obviously appeal with their lawyers.Nico (UCL Tours)Two questions to Swann, convicted at first instanceLibertarian alternative: Why this mode of action? Swann: Our days arenumbered. We are the last generation that can avoid the climatecatastrophe that governments are sending us into.Nonviolent civil resistance has repeatedly proven effective in the pastin the fight for civil rights. Today, even scientific articles prove itseffectiveness. Some scientists from the IPCC even call for civilresistance, and other scientists are engaged in an allied movement: the"scientific rebellion".Libertarian alternative: A few words about the repression ofenvironmental movements? Swann: The repression we are experiencing ispart of a growing global repressive framework. This is not surprising:we are calling for a change of system: degrowth and social justice.Ecology will not be achieved without social struggle and the governmentknows it. We are repressed because despite the blatant and frighteningreality of our future, we are putting their privileges at risk.https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Derniere-Renovation-Action-symbolique-repression-reelle_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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