“It’s a problem of pure law”, assures Vincent Poudampa, the lawyer for the opponents of Beynac’s deviation. Last year, they had succeeded in having the president of the Departmental Council of the Dordogne, Germinal Peiro, condemned by the judicial court of Bergerac, for the illegal wearing of an official scarf. The Bordeaux Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered this Monday, May 2, annuls the decision rendered at first instance.
Germinal Peiro was sentenced on March 9, 2021, for wearing his tricolor scarf illegally during a pro-deviation rally in September 2017. He wore it red up, as deputies do, while he had not been in the Assembly since June of that year. He was then a municipal councilor of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle.
The president of the department had already had a reminder to the law
“The question decided by the Court of Appeal is not that of the facts, it is a problem of pure law: can the citizen seize this offense to declare himself a victim? , while the prosecution had already sentenced Germinal Peiro for this offence”says Vincent Poudampa, who defended the opponents of the deviation.
It was indeed up to the State to choose whether or not to prosecute Germinal Peiro. And the Bergerac prosecution had decided to pronounce a reminder to the law against Germinal Peiro, for these same facts. The Court of Appeal therefore considered that the opponents were not justified in suing the president of the department before the Bergerac court. Vincent Poudampa ensures that the opponents intend to follow up on this case, by requesting the Court of Cassation.