I am shocked and saddened that the authorities in France are persisting with such a vindictive use of the criminal justice system, counter to the ideals of freedom and democracy the EU claims to uphold.
It may indeed be the case this man “broke the law” by activism at the date this event happened; but since then a negotiated settlement was achieved by which a certain number of these events were made fully legal in France, and permitted by the “proper channels of government”
In other EU countries, those who have changed the law by activism have been pardoned for their crimes ; the activists of East Europe who forced régime change forward in communist days – and even in Great Britain ( a country whose government and people are not known to be particularly tolerant of social change through activism) people who have actually taken part in violent crime in the disputed area of Northern Ireland have been pardoned.
So why persecute this man years after the event and to what avail? Throwing this man in prison will neither stop teknivals nor put right any damage or disruption caused by earlier unlicensed events.
Why can the rest of the French people not accept the fact the ravers have won part of the battle? The present situation permits a limited number of raves in remote areas where they do not cause disruption to the wider population – where is the problem here?
This retrospective backlash against an individual is hardly liberté, égalité et fraternité..
