French judges slap down government ban on climate activist group

French judges on Friday gave the all clear for an environmental action group to continue its activities after the government banned it for encouraging sabotage and damage to property.

Emmanuel Macron's government issued a decree banning the activities of the environmental group Les Soulevements de la Terre but a top French court said the government had not given enough proof that the group was behind acts of violence. © Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP

Les Soulevements de la Terre (SLT) was shut down in June following a on Friday, saying that it was not clear that the group had provoked violence.

SLT was shut down in June following a government decree which cited its involvement in protests that resulted in clashes with police.

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin accused SLT of inciting violence and sabotage at some 20 protests against large infrastructure projects in France.

He said it had played a major role in planning, spreading and legitimising violent methods of operation.

Darmanin, one of Emmanuel Macron's most trusted ministers, invoked public security legislation designed to contain extremism, which allows the government to dissolve groups causing armed demonstrations or violent acts at against persons or property.

French opposition MPs and non-government organisations immediately criticised Darmanin's move.

"The judges consider that there is serious doubt over the qualification of provocation of violent acts against persons and property, as defined by the dissolution decree," France's Council of State said in a statement on Friday.

Welcoming the decision, Olivier Faure, the boss of the Socialist party, said: "The Conseil d'Etat has reminded the government that public freedoms and the rule of law are not subject to its whim."

Marine Tondelier, the national secretary of the environmentalist political party Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV), added on social media: "The government has now been disavowed by the courts in its attempt to dissolve the SLT.

Le Gvt, déjà condamné pour inaction climatique, est maintenant désavoué par la justice dans sa tentative de dissolution des SLT.

Le Gvt ferait mieux de s’attaquer au problème de raréfaction de la ressource en eau plutôt qu'aux messagers qui, eux, respectent le cadre républicain. pic.twitter.com/tGpy7FxIZq

— Marine Tondelier (@marinetondelier) August 11, 2023

"It would do better to tackle the problem of dwindling water resources rather than the messengers. The courts have played their role as a bulwark."

During a court hearing on Tuesday, SLT's lawyers had rejected the accusations of violence. They called for the decree to be suspended so that activists could regain their freedom of speech and assembly while they await the appeals trial.

"There is also a more global emergency," SLT spokesperson Basile Dutertre told the court. "We've lived the hottest month of our history, and water resources are at a lowest."

Pascale Leglise, representing the interior ministry, said the group's methods of direct action that encourage the destruction of private goods were grounds enough for the state to shut down the group.