The Right to Protest is a Fundamental Right

transform! europe welcomes to condemn the French authorities’ decision to ban a planned demonstration against the Labour Law and express their solidarity with the workers and the trade union movement.

The French government, after stating this morning its decision to ban the demonstration against the Labour Law originally planned for Thursday the 23rd of June in Paris, has just reversed its decision. Some of the reasons given in the first place were that “the police would not be able of providing security for people and goods” and that “the threat of an imminent terrorist attack was high”. It seems that these threats were not so critical after all.
We, the members of the managing board and staff of transform!, welcome this decision to finally authorise the demonstration, and see it as a crucial victory for and by the movement. However, we firmly condemn the very idea of banning a demonstration organised by a coalition of seven trade unions and youth organisations – l’intersyndicale –, and remain extremely concerned as for the next steps of the movement, starting with the June 28 demonstration. What happened this morning was a severe blow against fundamental rights. It brought the country back to its darkest days, when demonstrations were forbidden in 1962, at the peak of the colonial Algerian war.
French authorities have offered l’intersyndicale to hold a “static meeting” instead. But given that all the acts of violence occurred when the crowd was blocked and surrounded by the police, it makes us wonder what the actual motives are.
We want to express our solidarity with the workers and the trade union movement.

On lâche rien!