The Nancy Court of Appeal required against an environmental activist prosecuted for having relayed on YouTube a song targeting Gérald Darmanin, 140 hours of community service or six months of imprisonment if he does not not doing an internship…
PHOTO AFP / Ludovic MARIN
Loïc Schneider is being prosecuted for having relayed on November 5, 2022 on YouTube a song targeting the then Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. He was acquitted at first instance by the Nancy criminal court in December 2023 but the prosecution appealed.
“Strange requisitions since the prosecutor did not ask my client whether or not he agreed to carry out the TIG,” noted his lawyer Christophe Sgro, who pleaded for confirmation of the first instance judgment.
“This song belongs to the genre of satire, which by definition proceeds by exaggeration or provocation, but it also leads to debates of general interest that could not be more serious: the dissolution of the Lorraine bloc, the sexist behavior of Mr. Darmanin who remain questionable in my opinion and the problem of police violence against demonstrators, in particular the yellow vests”, estimated Mr. Sgro.
The decision will be rendered on January 14.
The song, which directly and crudely challenged Gérald Darmanin, suggested “dissolving” the minister, whose “coffin” it referred to.
“In this matter, the jurisprudence of CEDH (European Court of Human Rights, editor’s note) is very clear on this subject: when it comes to criticizing a politician, freedom of expression must be understood in a manner extremely broad,” added the lawyer.
The young man is accused of threatening a crime or misdemeanor against people or property against a person holding public authority.
At first instance, the court noted in particular that Loïc Schneider was not the author of the incriminated comments.
Loïc Schneider has already been sentenced to one year in prison by the Niort criminal court for his participation in a demonstration against the mega-basin project in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres) in October 2022, as well as to three years prison for violence committed during a demonstration against the G20 in Germany in 2017.
