“Ecoterrorists”, “Khmer Greens” or even “hydrofurious”: so many expressions to try to designate the new activists of the environmentalist cause. L’Oeil du 20h wanted to know more about their motivations and their modes of action.
“We are all eco-terrorists!” That day, in Niort, they reappropriated the expression to make fun of it. It was the Minister of the Interior who was the first to designate them thus, after the events at Sainte Soline. He then declared: “There were a large number of violent demonstrators, who attacked the gendarmes. (…) This is eco-terrorism. The firm hand of the State will be there.”
A few months later, and 50 kilometers from the megabasins at the origin of clashes with the police, 4,000 environmental sympathizers met to support 9 anti-basin activists during their trial. One of the defendants, Julien Leguet, spokesperson for the “Bassines non merci” collective, bluntly announces: “let the State have no doubt, and let the government have no doubt: cut off the heads and ten will grow back. We are the hydra that fights for water.”
The fight against megabasins has brought together different environmental groups. Officially, they all claim the principle of non-violence. However, among activists, some justify it by the urgency of the climate crisis. A young man says: “I am absolutely not anti-violence. It seems necessary to me in a violent world.” One woman admits “it’s horrible to say, but I am for those who go to confrontation and I support them.”
42 places of environmental struggle in France
There are 3000 S files within the ultra left. With, among them, environmental activists. but also, anti-fascist groups who joined the demonstrations.
The Ministry of the Interior has identified 42 places of potential tension in the territory, similar to Sainte-Soline. On social networks, groups organize themselves according to local struggles. Everyone has one watchword: caution. Their members use encrypted messaging. They recommend the use of a pseudonym so as not to reveal one’s identity, including among activists.
Meet at the Climate Academy
We joined one of these organizations. a group, known for its stunts: at the gates of ministries or even during sporting events. From the first message, the tone is set:
“We are facing the greatest episode of suffering and injustice in human history (…) This is the last chance rescue operation and you can be part of it”
We are meeting and not just anywhere: at the Climate Academy. A public building, belonging to the Paris City Hall, which leaves this place available to associations.
From the first minutes of the presentation, the speech is intended to be radical. A young activist says that “sometimes you have to break the law to bring about legitimate laws. What is legitimate is not always legal today. We distinguish between legality and legitimacy.”
At the end of the presentation, other activists intervene. Among them, a young woman sentenced to two months suspended prison sentence for vandalism during a punch action. Another activist has just come out of police custody and is applauded.
When contacted, the Paris town hall said it was committed to freedom of expression even when certain comments “may be disturbing”. She nevertheless specifies:
“as with any public place, the City of Paris does not have the right to check people’s criminal records (…). As with any other service, each time attacks on the values of the Republic are noted, the City of Paris reports or takes legal action.”
Training day on “civil disobedience and non-violent direct action”
This method of illegality is supported by certain activists. In several cities in France, training days are even organized free of charge. We followed one in Marseille, alongside around thirty new recruits from the region. In the audience, there were students, workers and engineers, from 18 to over 40 years old.
On the program: concrete advice in the event of arrest to avoid conviction. Starting with the smartphone. “Don’t take your cell phone. It’s fundamental,” recommends the trainer. “Once they have access to your cell phone, they have access to enormous information about all the activists you have spoken to”
Here, the trainers clearly express their distrust of the police. “Everything you say will be against you. Their goal is not the manifestation of the truth, their goal is to sink you. So the instruction we give consists of one sentence. “I have nothing to declare.” From the beginning to the end.”
“At the moment, we are no longer falling through the cracks”
These training courses are mandatory to join the collective. A precaution, because for several months, its members have known that they have been closely observed by the police, as the trainer tells us. “It’s not at all trivial what we do. It’s still illegal. It’s actually civil disobedience, so it’s illegal. We don’t have the right to do that. Sometimes we slip through the cracks, at the moment we hardly slip through the cracks anymore”
Radicality, punchy action, sometimes violent contact with the police… Methods denounced by this former activist leader, contacted by telephone. He mentions the risk of a spiral for young recruits, who sometimes find themselves overwhelmed by events. “What touched me was seeing young activists who sat down for a debrief afterwards, they didn’t dare question what we were doing (…) It exhausts the activists. The movements don’t want to communicate on this but behind that, there are people who are breaking down and it’s violent. So it really hurts my heart when I actually see people between 20 and 30 years old depressed.”
According to our information, in 2023, more than 50 environmental activists have been convicted by French justice. As for the 9 megabasin defendants, they will be judged on November 28.