After being banned by the French government, the spokesperson for Génération Identitaire (Generation Identity), Clément Martin, speaks with Remix News about what is next in the organization’s battle against state repression
You were Génération Identitaire’s spokesperson, but on March 3 the government banned your organization. What does this mean in practice?
Génération identitaire is no longer active. The ban was pronounced in the Council of Ministers and we have filed two cases against that decision with the Council of State, which is France’s highest administrative court: the first one is a petition for suspension with the aim of suspending the ban for the time it will take the Council of State to rule over our second case concerning the legality of the ban. The petition for suspension will be judged on April 30 and we will then know whether Génération Identitaire will be able to continue its activity during the proceedings, which could last at least six months to a year.
Do you have confidence in the Council of State as the highest instance of administrative justice? Many in France believe that the Council of State is not totally independent of the government.
That is a pretty hard question to answer. If the judgment is rendered based on the law, we are extremely confident. However, if politics takes precedence over the law, then we have every reason to be concerned. In theory, the Council of State is supposed to base its rulings on the law, and we will have a first look at this on April 30. The ruling on our petition for suspension procedure will be decided on collegially by three judges, which happens extremely rarely since most often there is only one judge to make such a decision. This shows that the case is taken very seriously.
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