The elected representative of La France insoumise calls on young people to mobilize on Tuesday March 7, the sixth national day of demonstrations against the government’s bill.
He adopts a trend of social networks to encourage high school and university students to mobilize against the pension reform. The deputy of La France insoumise Louis Boyard launched, Sunday March 5 in a video on TikTok and Twitter, a “blockade challenge” in which he calls on young people to block schools, Tuesday March 7 on the occasion of the sixth day national events. The initiative of the 22-year-old elected official was immediately criticized and denounced by several political leaders, including the President of the National Assembly.
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1 What is this “challenge” launched by Louis Boyard?
Unlike the “mannequin challenge” or the “ice bucket challenge”, there is no question of motionless choreography or buckets of ice water. Tuesday, March 7, on the occasion of the sixth day of mobilization against the government bill, “We expect all high schools and universities to be blocked. (…) That’s why we’re launching the hashtag #BlocusChallenge: post your best photos of high school and university blockades”calls the deputy of Val-de-Marne in a video published on the social networks TikTok and Twitter, Sunday noon.
A photo will be drawn from among the photos sent with this hashtag, he promises. “The team of blockers will be invited to visit the National Assembly with us”adds one of the youngest deputies, whose first steps as an elected official were told by franceinfo last summer.
2 How are the other political camps reacting?
The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, very quickly condemned the appeal of the LFI deputy. The Palais Bourbon “is not a competition prize. Politics is not a TikTok challenge. You should serve them, you are hurting them. Respect your function, respect your institution, respect the French!”she launched on Twitter, quoting the initial message. “To constantly call for disorder, to want to transform everything into a ZAD, to multiply excesses and outrages is unworthy of a sitting parliamentarian”denounced for his part the deputy RN Laurent Jacobelli.
Valérie Pécresse, president of the Ile-de-France region, went further by announcing her intention to file a complaint against Louis Boyard, on behalf of the region she chairs, for incitement to the offense of obstruction and incitement to violence. . Former LR presidential candidate denounces remarks “unacceptable”, “irresponsible” And “arsonists”while “the right to demonstrate must respect the right to study”.
On the left, unsurprisingly, Jean-Luc Mélenchon publicly supported the initiative of Louis Boyard, to whom he is close. “Hit the target! All the parrots of the regime overplay indignation and advertise your idea! They have forgotten Macron’s antics with youtubers”, he tweeted on Monday afternoon, when he had already supported the former high school student unionist after his altercation with host Cyril Hanouna in November. Some allies of the Nupes, however, have little taste for this call. “I don’t like public debate when it turns into a game. (…) Creativity has its place in the debate but it must find its own limit”notably reacted the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, on Public Senate.
3 Is it legal to block a high school or a university?
This is the question raised by the appeal of Louis Boyard, who was president of the National Union of High School Students (UNL) between 2018 and 2019 and who has multiplied calls for blocking since January. According to Jean-Paul Markus, professor of public law, “the Penal Code is very clear” on the blocking of high schools: “The fact of entering or remaining within the premises of an educational establishment without being authorized to do so (…) or having been authorized to do so (…), with the aim of disturbing the peace or the good order of the establishment, is punished by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 7,500 euros”is it written in article 431-22, recalls the teacher at the University of Paris-Saclay on the site Les Highlighters.
A difference exists with university blockages. “There is no similar text, which does not mean that the blockages are legal”, explains Jean-Paul Markus on the site of the media specializing in law. The Education Code provides in particular that university users can obtain information and access courses “under conditions which do not interfere with teaching and research activities and which do not disturb public order”. “The same Code adds that disciplinary sanctions are applicable, going as far as exclusion”he says.
4 Is Louis Boyard’s call for a blockade illegal?
For Jean-Paul Markus, Louis Boyard’s video constitutes “from a deputy, a call for offense”even if, he explains, the penalties provided for in the event of blocking “have never been applied against students”. “We have a deputy who calls for breaking the law”, summarizes the specialist about the initiative of Louis Boyard. On the other hand, the professor of public law points out to franceinfo that the deputy “does not commit a crime himself, because he does not call for entry into high schools, for example. There are no sanctions for Louis Boyard, because it is a political statement. We do not see not sure how he would be punished.”
Can the complaint announced by Valérie Pécresse worry Louis Boyard? “The offense of obstruction she is thinking of only applies to traffic, otherwise it is an unrelated labor law offenseexplains Jean-Paul Markus to franceinfo. As for the incitement to violence, it is true that Louis Boyard takes the risk that the blockages he encourages degenerate. But he does not call for violence. The Penal Code is interpreted strictly, not extensively.