5 ms·

IMO the problem is that France use anti-terrorists law against environmental activist. It is not the first time it happens, and I bet that it will happen again.

• shapefrog 5y ago
  > use anti-terrorists law against environmental activist I have seen this commented a lot by people, that specifically anti-terrorist laws were used? But from what I have found, they used regular laws. Any chance you can point me in the right direction?
  • malka 5y ago
    I am not sure about this specific case, but France has done it multiple times in the past: https://www.liberation.fr/france/2015/11/27/l-etat-d-urgence-utilise-contre-les-militants_1416795/ https://www.liberation.fr/france/2015/11/27/l-etat-d-urgence... https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/04/03/french-police-tap-counter-terrorism-unit-quell-climate-activists/ https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/04/03/french-police-t...
• formerly_proven 5y ago
  Reminder that France literally bombed and sunk a moored Greenpeace ship (killing one person) not that long ago to prevent further protests against their nuclear weapon tests.
  • kook_throwaway 5y ago
    For anyone else wondering: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warri...
  • brendoelfrendo 5y ago
    While this is true, I wouldn't call 36 years ago "not that long ago." That is a literal lifetime ago for many users of this site.
    • nraynaud 5y ago
      they could still charge the bombers now, and everyday, the government more or less choses not to do it. While they still pursue the terrorists of the Red Brigades whose crime are even older.
      • GekkePrutser 5y ago
        They were actually charged and went to prison. Kinda weird actually considering they were operating on their own government's orders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior Can you imagine, the government telling you to do something and then dragging you in front of a court after you do it :S I don't think they should have gone through with it but as they were under orders I don't think the responsibility lies with them. By the way I really miss the way Greenpeace is no longer a grassroots environmental organisation. Protesting against nuclear testing, whaling etc the way they did was risky but effective. Nowadays they're just another multinational corporation, just with some environmental goals. It's no wonder they're never really in the news anymore. And the need for this activism is actually much greater than ever now.
        • eropple 5y ago
          > Can you imagine, the government telling you to do something and then dragging you in front of a court after you do it :S The French agents were arrested by New Zealand, not France, and convicted in New Zealand. France also threw their weight around to avoid having their agents jailed for the term of their sentences, AFAIK. Beyond that, there's nothing wrong with holding responsible agents of the state who follow illegal orders (whether this was by French law, I can't speak to it). Many liberalized states, and particularly the militaries of those states, operate on the assumption that you must refuse to follow an illegal order. (Intelligence services, which caused the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, may have different rules, but fundamentally there's supposed to be a carve-out and an escalation process for addressing orders "beyond the rules"." An example from the United States: https://warontherocks.com/2017/07/when-can-a-soldier-disobey-an-order/ https://warontherocks.com/2017/07/when-can-a-soldier-disobey...