The Paris police chief issued this Tuesday a banning order targeting the event, planned for Place de la République on Sunday June 21.
The concert organized by LFI at Place de la République on Sunday on the occasion of the Music Festival was banned on Wednesday by the Paris police chief, with the Insoumis immediately announcing an appeal to the administrative court. In a decree published at the beginning of the evening, the prefect of police, Patrice Faure, justifies this ban by the arrival at this concert of personalities such as the Adama Committee and its founder Assa Traoré, as well as the rapper Médine.
The prefect considers that the Adama Committee is calling for attacks on the police – he thus cites the slogan “Everyone hates the police” and accuses the rapper of comments inciting hatred. The national coordinator of LFI, Manuel Bompard, announced an appeal against this decision, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Insoumis presidential candidate, denounced on his account ‘a serious democratic scandal in the electoral period’.
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Jean-Luc Mélenchon affirms that the police chief decided to ban this concert “At the request of the president of Crif Yonathan Arfi and the PS mayor of the Paris Center district”Ariel Weil. In his eyes, “This last minute decision was taken under pressure from groups and individuals declaring themselves hostile to rebellious France”.
“A very polarized political context”
“For LFI, music is not an end, it is a means, serving a political agenda. (…) This concert is legal but is it relevant for democracy?had notably written Monday on the social network X Yonathan Arfi. “No, it is not possible to use the music festival for political purposes. And given the crowds who will be in the streets dancing and singing, it is a danger for public order and security.”had written at the same time about X Ariel Weil, mayor of Paris Center.
In his ruling, Patrice Faure argues that “This event risks attracting a public hostile to the police and giving rise to the dissemination of comments calling for hatred, discrimination or violence against institutions”. He further emphasizes that this concert takes place “in a very polarized political context (…) and that this context fuels the desire for confrontation”.
Manuel Bompard “solemnly warns of the dangers posed to the conduct of the next presidential election by this type of authoritarian practices which seek to exploit the problems of maintaining law and order for political ends”. He asks the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, “to take the necessary measures to guarantee a free and fair presidential campaign”.
