The principal of the Maurice-Ravel school campus in Paris has left his position, the Paris rectorate announced on Tuesday March 26, citing a “early departure” retired, granted “in view of the events which have marked these last weeks, their media coverage and the impact they may have had on him”. According to an internal message sent to teachers, students and their parents, earlier in the day, the head of the school left “For safety reasons”which the administration has not confirmed.
The Ministry of National Education, however, described its decision as “understandable given the seriousness of the attacks to which he was subjected”in a press release Wednesday. In the evening, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal gave him his support, announcing a state complaint against the student who had accused him of violence.
He had been the target of death threats on the internet after an altercation with a student to whom he asked to remove her veil in this establishment in the 20th arrondissement, at the end of February. A 26-year-old man was arrested for the threats and will be tried on April 23. An investigation was also opened into the incident between the principal and the student, who both filed a complaint. The one filed by the student was dismissed, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced on Wednesday. Franceinfo takes stock of what we know about this affair.
An altercation between the principal and a student, who accuses him of having hit her
According to the prosecution’s account, the principal, on February 28, “reminded three students of the obligation to remove their veils within the school grounds”. One of them, an adult and educated in BTS, “ignored the principal, which caused an altercation”. This manager then wanted “lead towards the exit of the establishment” the student, who has “resisted”reported the services of the Ministry of National Education to AFP. “In the face of rising tension and to avoid an altercation”he “withdrew and the police intervened”concluded the ministry.
At the same time, the BTS student delivered his version of the incident to Parisianconfirming that she was leaving high school when she met the principal. “I had my bonnet and my hood on my head as well as my veil, but which was not completely put onshe said. The principal came up to us and started yelling at my girlfriend. He saw that she was taking off her bonnet and veil, so he came straight to me.” She says she was “push” And “hit violently on the arm” by the head of the establishment.
A student met by The Parisian, who said he witnessed the scene, also mentioned a violent gesture on the part of the principal. “He called out to her very aggressively to tell her to reveal her hairhe says. He raised his hand at her and then delivered a very violent blow to her upper body.” A BTS classmate of the young woman, met by the Bondy Blog, said he intervened. “Then he was gone, everyone saw it and we were all shocked. (…) He literally hit her”he also denounces.
In the process, according to the prosecution, the student filed a complaint for “violence not resulting in incapacity for work”, and the principal for “act of intimidation towards a person participating in the execution of a mission public service to obtain an exemption from the rules governing this service”. An investigation has been opened. But the complaint filed by the student was dismissed for “insufficiently characterized offense”the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
On March 5, the director of the Paris academy denied messages on social networks accusing the principal of a slap. “That’s not how things happened.”replied Valérie Baglin-Le Goff during a visit to the Maurice-Ravel school campus. “Received again yesterday [le 4 mars] with her family, this student admitted that she was not slapped, The principal simply asked her to remove her veil. And when she didn’t hear him, he put a hand on her back. (…) But at no time was there such violence as could have been relayed by certain media.”. In a video broadcast on March 15 by the Collective against Islamophobia in Europe, the young woman contested these comments from the director, now having received “a violent blow to the arm”.
He was targeted by online death threats, and a man faces trial
As of March 1, three days after the altercation, the Paris rectorate reported that the incident had “was taken up and misused on social networks, generating defamatory remarks and threats”. “Since these events, death threats against the principal have been noted online”confirmed the Paris prosecutor’s office, explaining that the national center for the fight against online hatred had taken it into custody and had opened an investigation.
Since then, a 26-year-old man from Hauts-de-Seine has been arrested – he is due to be tried on April 23 “for public provocation without effect to commit willful harm to life”. This offense is punishable by five years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. He was placed under judicial supervision pending trial. Another man was arrested on March 14 in Trouville (Calvados), but he was released after being tried in immediate appearance. Neither of these two men had any connection with the school, said the Ministry of National Education on Wednesday.
Mobilizations took place to support the principal and the student
On March 4, some 150 school heads gathered in front of the Sorbonne in Paris in support of the headmaster of Maurice-Ravel. “For us, it’s abnormal to have to go to work with fear in our stomachs. This is not normal for any profession, especially ours.” denounced a principal of a college in eastern Paris met by franceinfo.
“The trigger was the events at the Ravel high school. But more broadly, it is about providing support to all colleagues, who, at one time or another, are threatened because it is necessary to apply the rules”defended Nicolas Bray, responsible for the Paris academy of the main union of school leaders, SNPDEN-Unsa.
“Following this call to rally, tongues were loosened and there were other heads of establishment who said they were receiving threats”added Kamel Ait Bouali, his counterpart from SGEN-CFDT Paris.
Three days after the altercation, the Maurice-Ravel school complex was blocked by young people protesting the attitude of the principal. A banner “student hit, high school blocked” was hung in front of the establishment and classes were suspended during the day.
National Education had taken protective measures
The Minister of National Education, Nicole Belloubet, reacted on March 1, in a message onFor “address everything [son] support for the principal and all the high school teams” in front of “this unacceptable situation”. On March 5, she went to the Maurice-Ravel high school and assured that the ministry had “reacted to form a protective shield around the establishment and its staff.”
“A series of measures” was taken to protect the principal, added the minister. In a press release following the announcement of the latter’s resignation, the ministry specifies that “several national police crews were mobilized around the establishment” from February 29, the day after the first online threats, and the messages concerned were reported to the Pharos platform to obtain their removal. National Education claims to have also granted functional protection to the head of the establishment for “that he can be supported humanly and financially in his legal proceedings”.
The Prime Minister also expressed his support for the principal, whom he met on Wednesday. “I really want to pay tribute to him because he has great dignity in this ordeal”declared Gabriel Attal, during an interview in the 8 p.m. news on TF1, Wednesday. “He was due to retire in June. (…) Some advised him, for security reasons, to leave a little earlier”, he explained. The head of government also announced that the State “was going to file a complaint” For “slanderous denunciation” against the student.