Journalist Serge Halimi announced on Sunday March 5 that he will not participate in the national tribute dedicated to his mother, lawyer Gisèle Halimi who died in 2020, organized on March 8 on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. women. A refusal motivated by political news, because this tribute comes in full mobilization against a pension reform that the feminist activist would have fought.

Mr. Halimi, former director of the newspaper Le Monde diplomatique, announced in a statement transmitted to Agence France-Presse (AFP): “I will not participate. The decision of the Elysée comes after more than two years of procrastination and while the country is mobilized against an extremely unfair pension reform of which women who occupy the most difficult jobs will be the first victims. »

Gisèle Halimi’s son also denounced the way in which this ceremony was organized, and said he was “suddenly informed” this week by the Presidency of the Republic, “at the same time as the press”, that this tribute would take place on 8 March. Conversely, lawyer Jean-Yves Halimi, brother of Serge, one of Gisèle’s sons, said he was “very satisfied” at the announcement of this tribute. “I always thought she deserved it,” he said.

“The best way to honor his memory and his struggles”

In his statement, Serge Halimi continues: “My mother would have defended their cause and demonstrated alongside them. On March 8, it will be the best way to honor his memory and his fights “, before specifying to AFP to have ” never had contact with the Elysée, nor with any official, since the death of [sa ] mother “.

Serge Halimi thus agrees with the position expressed by Violaine Lucas, president of the association Choisir la cause des femmes, founded by Gisèle Halimi and Simone de Beauvoir in 1971. Organizing this national tribute in the midst of protest against the pension reform is a matter of “Political instrumentalization,” said Ms. Lucas, who will also not participate in the ceremony scheduled at the Paris Courthouse.

Lawyer, politician and writer, Gisèle Halimi, who died on July 28, 2020, at the age of 93, made her life a fight for women’s rights. She notably worked for the decriminalization of abortion, then for its coverage by Social Security. Previously, she had denounced the use of torture during the Algerian war by the French soldiers, which had earned her an arrest and a brief detention.

Besides Serge and Jean-Yves, Gisèle Halimi had a third son, journalist Emmanuel Faux, who died in August 2022.