An annual ultra-right demonstration planned for May 11 in Paris has been banned by the police headquarters, the latter told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday, May 7. A “total ban order has been issued,” said the police headquarters. The order was signed on Monday, she added.
This demonstration of the “Committee of May 9” takes place every year in memory of the accidental death in 1994 of Sébastien Deyzieu, a far-right activist. To justify this decree, the police headquarters notably points to a risk of disturbances to public order and recalls the precedent of 2023, according to a source close to the matter at AFP. That year, the parade of the “May 9 Committee”, which had not been banned, sparked a lively controversy.
Some 600 ultra-right activists, mostly dressed in black and with their faces hidden, marched through the streets of Paris, showing flags with Celtic crosses and chanting “Europe youth revolution”, the slogan of the Gud (Union Defense Group).
In reaction to the controversy, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, asked the prefects to ban all ultra-right demonstrations and gatherings. In Paris, the administrative court has since suspended several times in the name of freedom to demonstrate banning orders issued by the police prefect, Laurent Nuñez.
