Who. Ernest Moret, head of international rights at Éditions La Fabrique, was arrested last Monday when he was on his way to the London Book Fair.

That. The British police applied the anti-terrorism law to him and questioned him about his participation in the protests against Macron’s pension reform.

Because. Publishers, journalists and MEPs denounce the abuse of power and authoritarian measures in the two countries.

Ernest Moret, head of international rights at Éditions La Fabrique, arrived at St. Pancras station with the naive intention of participating in the London Book Fair. Two plain-clothes policemen, a man and a woman, were, however, waiting for him on the platform. They showed him a piece of paper, which read “Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Law”, and told him that they wanted to ask him some questions…

“I’m still shaking from what happened,” revealed Stella Magliani-Belkacem, director of the French publishing house, who was traveling with him. He could do little to prevent his colleague from being taken away. They interrogated him for six hours about his participation in the demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron for the pension reform, they asked him his opinion about the French president and they asked him for a list of “anti-government authors” who publish in the editorial of the.

Moret declined to answer questions. She also resisted providing the keys to unlock her mobile phone and her computer, which were seized on the fly. In the end, he was detained for 24 hours and was released on bail. He will have to re-book in May and then you will know whether or not charges are filed against him, and until then you will not be able to get his belongings back.

“Moret came to London to attend a book fair and the police stopped him to ask him about his participation in the protests in France,” his British lawyer, Richard Perry, has denounced. “If the British police arrested you at the request of a foreign power, using anti-terrorism legislation and because that same power has not been able to act against you as a citizen, isn’t this a case of abuse of power?”

“We are facing an outrageous and unjustified violation of the principles of freedom of expression,” lamented Éditions la Fabrique and Verso Books in a joint statement. “The actions of the police and the type of questions show that there has been complicity between the British and French authorities.”

Twelve MEPs have intervened in the controversy and have written to the Secretary of the Interior, Suella Braverman, denouncing “the scandalous treatment” received by Moret at the hands of the police. The signatories accuse the British authorities of “infringing on human rights” and warn against “the trend towards authoritarian measures by the French government in the face of popular discontent.”

Between the lines, the MEPs question whether Moret’s arrest obeys the new entente cordiale signed between Macron and the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and denounces the repressive policies against freedom of expression and demonstration on both sides of the English Channel.

Aurélie Trouvé and Hadrian Clouet, deputies from Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Insoumise platform, have written directly to the French Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, and have demanded “full transparency” about the role of the French government in Moret’s arrest . The two politicians have expressed their hope that we are not “before an agreement between the French and British (intelligence) services to repress the participation of citizens in the demonstrations.”

Trouvé has even accused the French government of “outsourcing intimidation” to the neighboring country: “The account of Ernest Moret’s interrogation suggests that the British authorities acted with a script written by the French authorities, since what they asked had to do exclusively with their activities in France. We are facing a very serious and unprecedented transgression, and this cannot remain so.”

The writers’ association PEN International has expressed its “deep concern” over Moret’s arrest. Pamela Morton, spokesperson for the National Union of Journalists, has also recognized the stupor that has settled in the profession due to the actions of the police.

Scotland Yard confirmed the arrest in St. Pancras of a 28-year-old man, without specifying his name, using the powers of section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (which allows the detention of suspects at the border to determine if they are related with terrorist activities). The brief note justifies extending his arrest for “obstructing interrogation” under section 18 of the same law.

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