On the menu, the magistrates solemnly promise “Mules from Moscow to London via the Caribbean, craft beer Ox Lager and IPA, wine, iced tea and homemade lemonade, a cone of local and organic raw vegetables with a anchovy or an aioli…” But no grilled chicken? However, judging by the program of the Magistracy Union, the weekend is likely to be spicy for the police comrades.
The second union organization of magistrates, which represents around a third of the profession, has in fact announced that it will hold for the first time in its history a stand at the Fête de l’Humanité, which takes place this year from 15 to 17 September in Essonne. “This stand is organized jointly with the French Lawyers’ Union, which has been participating in the Fête de l’Humanité for several years,” said Sarah Pibarot, judge at the Paris court and national secretary of the Magistracy Union.
Also read: The little red book of the Magistrates’ Union, details of the protester’s rights
“It is an opportunity for us to participate in a weekend of exchanges and debates, to meet other organizations and unions and discuss the themes that are dear to us, justice and public freedoms” adds- She.
In addition to the aperitif menu, the stand program promises several round tables devoted to debates linked to justice… or above all, to the role of the police. The first of them will in fact focus on “identity checks and police violence”, Saturday at 11 a.m. It will be followed by the union’s participation in a debate at the stand of the Solidaires organization, on this question: “how can the social movement face police violence, increased repression and dissolutions?” The next morning, this time at the agora of the Huma Festival, we start again with this debate: “the security question or the overflowing order”.
“In reality,” explains Sarah Pibarot, “on our stand we only organize three events, strictly speaking, on police violence but also on immediate appearances and on juvenile justice. The other events mentioned on our program are not on our stand, we are only associated with them!” No one saw fit to involve the Magistracy Union in a round table on recidivism or the feeling of injustice expressed by the families of victims of various events…
But perhaps these “debates” will be an opportunity to give pride of place to contradiction? “Let’s say instead that we are going to bring together the union bodies of several professions: for example, on juvenile justice, there will be a representative of the CGT and another of the SNES-FSU, the teachers’ union” explains Sarah Pibarot. Two union organizations which are not really known for positions very different from those of the Magistracy Union. The latter, moreover, will open his participation in the Huma Festival “in the presence of deputies and representatives of NUPES”. It is certain that there must be more of them than their colleagues from the LR group to browse the festival stands.
This participation sparked strong reactions, starting with that of Pierre-Marie Sève, the director of the Institute for Justice, an association which campaigns for greater severity in criminal sanctions. “The Magistracy Union has done it again and politicizes justice a little more, shattering the neutrality of the profession,” he criticizes, estimating that “since the Mur des Cons affair, this union should stay away from all political events.
In 2013, a video broadcast by Atlantico showed a billboard where, under an offensive title, the Magistracy Union had pinned up on its premises photos of several right-wing elected officials, intellectuals or journalists, as well as several parents of victims.
Questioned by Sonia Mabrouk Tuesday morning on Europe 1 and CNews about the presence of the Magistracy Union at the Huma Festival to discuss police violence, government spokesperson Olivier Véran soberly estimated that the initiative was “not great”, visibly in a hurry to avoid the question.
The Unité-SGP-Police-FO union, for its part, judged on its website that “the Magistracy Union is abandoning the poor working conditions of magistrates to concentrate on its favorite activity: hitting the police,” also denouncing “ the politicization of justice by the Magistracy Union.”
A “politicization” assumed by Sarah Pibarot, according to whom “justice is a political subject”, although the latter rejects any “desire to tilt justice to the left”. “We proposed to all parliamentary groups, with the exception of the RN, to receive us during the examination of the laws on justice,” adds the national secretary of the Magistracy Union.
After the presence of the rapper Médine, strongly criticized in recent days, the Huma Festival 2023 edition has definitely not finished causing controversy.
