Translated material
Topless and bell
Activists of the radical movement Femen, which has now become French, won the process at the Cathedral of the Parisian Mother of God
On September 10, the correctional court of Paris acquitted nine activists of the Femen movement, known for its shocking Toples forces in defense of women's rights . In July, with a delay for almost a year (the hearing was postponed twice), the girls were charged in connection with the action arranged by them in the Cathedral of the Paris Mother of God on February 12 last year. The prosecutors demanded that each of the nine accused pay a fine in the amount of one and a half thousand euros for damage to one of the bells of the main cathedral of France.
This is the first lawsuit in France against the radical female group that migrated to France two years ago, which many feminist organizations have repeatedly criticized the essence of their ideas. The first, but far from the last: he opened a whole series of trials against the current Femen activists.
On February 12, 2013, nine Femen activists in the general flow of tourists entered the Cathedral of the Paris Mother of God. Their goal was to "note" the decision of the Pope Benedict XVI to leave the holy throne. Having exposed the breasts with inscriptions such as “so far, Benedict” and “Crisis of Faith”, the girls began to chant the slogans against the pope and the homophobia and beat with wooden sticks in three new gilded bells temporarily installed in the inside of the church. The bells were made by French masters on the 850th anniversary of the construction of the cathedral, and later they were supposed to strengthen on the bells. It was not by chance that Femen chose the day for its action: the national assembly, the lower house of the French parliament, was just supposed to approve the law allowing same -sex marriages.
The protection of the cathedral rudely expelled the outrageous of calmness on the street: one of the activists broke the tooth, and the other dragged by the hair. For this, the three security officers of the Council Service were conditionally fined from 250 to 500 euros. And for each of the nine Femen activists, the prosecution required fines in the amount of one and a half thousand euros, although the administration of the Cathedral of the Paris Mother of God demanded seven thousand euros for the repair of St. Marseille bell and another ten thousand compensation for moral damage.
The leader of the Femen 24-year-old Inna Shevchenko , nevertheless, on the eve of the court decision, expressed confidence that the girls would win the case:
- Probably, we can lose this court in only one case: if the French state has lost its taste for secularism, to secularism. Otherwise, we must win, because the accusing side has no evidence that we damaged the bell. This process itself was very ridiculous, because none of the lawyers of the Notre Dame could present any evidence that the bell was damaged. Instead, we listened to the question of how bad it is to come to church and conduct a protest in it, as this can offend the feelings of believers. With such absurd arguments that we observed, we can only win, ”said Inna Shevchenko.
And so it happened: the Parisian court did not find sufficient evidence that the activists damaged the bell.
On September 4, Inna Shevchenko took part in the conference of representatives of feminist movements, which took place in the National Assembly of France. This event was initiated by French parliamentarians in order to discuss the problems of discrimination on the sexual basis. According to Shevchenko, in France Femen has not been an “outsider” for a long time - although not immediately, but it was possible to establish cooperation with local feminist and human rights organizations:
- Over the course of these two years, the attitude towards us has changed. When we only appeared in France, it was very difficult to find any contact with the local feminist organizations, since they have been conducting their activities for a long time and, probably, were not ready to accept the Ukrainian organization, for various reasons. But at the moment, we are already very tightly cooperating and have constant contact with organizations such as “for feminism” and others. On September 20, at the Femen headquarters, we arrange a large day of feminism, which will be present by representatives of various feminist movements of France. Debats and watching thematic films will be organized, and we hold this event together with other organizations.
Femen: A half -naked protest
When we just appeared in France, it was very difficult to find any contact with the local feminist organizations
Femen headquarters, located in the Parisian suburb of Clichy, local authorities have long threatened to free from its inhabitants, since the building was engaged in illegally. Nevertheless, Inna Shevchenko is optimistic: the police, according to her, have not yet appeared:
-The story with our headquarters is still ongoing. This room is located in the occupied building of the warehouse, which we occupied a year ago. While we are there, although there is already a court decision that we must leave the building. Officially, we have not yet been evicted. The police did not come with the agenda.
Inna Shevchenko moved the Femen head representative office to Paris in August 2012. She herself received a political shelter here. In France, the organization has about 370 members, of which 25 are in Paris. Femen is officially registered here as an association:
- The attitude of the authorities towards us, of course, changes depending on our actions. Many of our actions do not like. Very often we are arrested. But we do not complain about this, because we are an organization that will primarily resist the members of the parliament and any form of power that will allow himself a violation of female rights and human rights as a whole.
The conduct of human rights in France is much easier than in Ukraine, Inna Shevchenko admits:
- Of course, it is much easier here. Nobody refused us registration, as they refused in Ukraine for probably three years. It is much freer here. But still, sometimes there are times when we can be beaten by nationalists on the street in Paris, and our headquarters can be set on fire. We get threats on the phone daily. But in general, if we talk about the political situation, in France it is much easier to conduct political activity than in Ukraine.
In addition to the decision in the case of the Promotion in Notre Dame, in September, the trial of the activist Femen Yana Zhdanova should take place. On June 5 of this year, on the day of the Russian President’s visit to the Champs Elysees, she, acting as a vamp woman, pounced on the wax double of Vladimir Putin in the Museum of the Voskovo Figures “Greven” in Paris and sorered him with a wooden wedge. The figure was destroyed, and the girl who did this is now threatened with a fine of 50 thousand euros.