France: Seven anti-fascists arrested

They were arrested on Sunday at a demonstration against the Front National meeting being held in the city. Protesters set dustbins alight and tried to build barricades while police fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. A total on 12 people were arrested on Sunday, with five being released on Monday, the others were held until their court date on Wednesday. The CNT local called for a solidarity demonstration outside the court on Wednesday. There was a heavy police presence at the court with two rings of Gendarmes, squads of CRS and plainclothes officers from the anti-criminality brigades (BAC).

The seven were tried in groups:

A young philosophy teacher claiming to be a passer-by was given a three month suspended sentence, a young woman with several convictions for squatting was given three months in prison with a further three suspended and a young woman who appears to have run into the demo accidentally and took off her shoes to throw at the police, this, along with her incoherence in court suggests that this young woman needed psychiatric help; she was given a three month suspended sentence.

A worker in his early 30s and a young homeless man, both arrested far from the scene, were both found guilty of attacking the police, with the former receiving three months in prison with the same term suspended. The latter who has been living rough since the age of 15 was given a sentence of 6 months.

An alcoholic Arab male in his forties who admitted to throwing an empty can, which did not hit anybody, received the longest sentence, nine months in prison. He had 25 previous offences, mostly drunk and disorderly.

A young student who had thrown clumps of soil was given a suspended sentence of 3 months and warned not to attend any more demonstrations.

A homeless man who was identified in the following days was also sentenced on the same day, to four months inmprisonment.