Several thousand people marched on Sunday June 4 in Paris to pay tribute to the young student and anti-fascist activist Clément Méric. The activist died ten years ago under the blows of ultra-right skinheads.
This mobilization is the culmination of a series of mobilizations organized this weekend by anti-fascist organizations and those close to the young man, in a context of renewed activities by ultra-right movements.
To cries of “Clément, Clément, antifa” or “Siamo tutti antifascisti”, the procession – 5,000 people according to the organizers, 1,950 according to the police headquarters – set off around noon from the Barbès-Rochechouart metro station towards the Place de la République, behind a banner covered with the words of Louis Aragon “death does not dazzle the eyes of partisans”.
Under the flag, activists from Action antifasciste Paris-banlieue (AFAPB), dressed entirely in black and with their faces masked, and others from Toulouse, Caen or Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, from Spain or Greece. “We do not forget that fascism kills, that the far right is not trivial and that their ideas like their words are a danger to our social body”, declared in the middle of the crowd Aude, the girlfriend of Clement’s time.
“A trivialization of the far right”
“The ultra-right is the visible part of a trivialization of the far right (…) which results in street attacks on demonstrators and even mayors”, judged Mathieu, a 43-year-old railway worker, member of the Sud union. -Rail, who preferred not to mention his surname.
Last month, the resignation of the mayor of Saint-Brevin (Loire-Atlantique), Yannick Morez, created an electric shock in the country. The elected official, first implicated by a group of residents hostile to the transfer of a reception center for asylum seekers, joined by far-right groups, was then threatened and his house burned down.
“The fascist thugs are coming out of everywhere again to practice their ratonnades,” added anonymously Mireille, 57, a regular at antifa demonstrations. “What’s important is to put on a show of force. We want to occupy the street, meet with all the comrades from abroad and allow the visibility of our fights, “commented Nargesse Bibimoune, a member of the group Action antifasciste Paris-banlieue.
“The idea is to dovetail with other struggles, for Palestine, against police brutality,” she added. Ten years after his death, the memory of Clément Méric remains omnipresent in the mobilizations of the radical left.
In recent years, ultra-right groups – 1,500 activists throughout France according to the authorities – have signaled themselves through violent actions or planned attacks. Although forbidden to manifest or dissolved, they remain active and difficult to control.
