Judicial supervision of Julien Coupat lightened

Dec. 18, 2009

http://www.notbored.org/lifted.html

On Friday, the court annulled the majority of the obligations that the ten
people in the so-called "Tarnac" group must respect.

Arrested a year ago for "criminal association with respect to a terrorist
enterprise," the ten suspects in the investigation into the sabotage of
the high-speed train lines saw the requirements of their release
considerably lightened on Friday [18 December 2009]. The Court of Appeals
in Paris made this decision against the advice of the Attorney General's
Office, which requested the maintenance of the totality of the measures.

For Julien Coupat, the presumed leader of the so-called "Tarnac" group,
and the nine other suspects, the court only kept the interdiction against
them meeting together or communicating with each other. Their passports
have been returned to them; they no longer are obligated to "check in"
[pointer] at regular intervals with the police nor to reside in certain
places only.

"This decision really smells of appeasement," said William Bourdon, one of
the suspects' attorneys. At the beginning of December, the ten people
placed under [judicial] supervision wrote an op-ed piece in Le Monde
entitled "Why we will no longer respect the judicial restraints placed
upon us."[1] They wrote therein "Imagine that you have the right to see
whomever you like, except for those whom you love; that you can live
anywhere except your home; that you can speak freely on the telephone or
in the presence of unknown people, but that anything you say can, one day
or another, be used against you. Imagine that you can do whatever you
like, except for what you hold dear."

What the ten suspects will do now remains to be seen. Mr Bourdon says that
they will now decide if they will maintain their position of no longer
respecting any of their obligations, and thus remain vulnerable to being
sent back to prison, or if they will agree to obey the new rules. Lifting
the prohibition of communicating amongst themselves is one of their
principal demands, and it hasn't been satisfied.

Since the beginning of this affair, the "Tarnac Nine" have maintained
their innocence. The district attorney and the police have described them
as "ultra-leftist" militants. But many suspicions[2] weigh upon the
conduct of the investigation.

[1] Translator's note: Text translated and posted here:
http://www.notbored.org/tarnac-ten.html

[2] Translator's note: Text translated and posted here:
http://www.notbored.org/jean-hugues-bourgeois.html

(Published on-line by Europe 1 on 18 December 2009. Translated from the
French by NOT BORED! on 19 December 2009.)