Repression

Here you can find a summary of the key information concerning repression, strategies and anti-repression. Of course, there is no claim to be complete. Get more information here and there and likewise look for other sources. If you have additional information or corrections about the legal situation, please contact us. We don’t know if the police will always act the same or the “worst” way or if there is even police in the ZAD. You don’t need to reckon with control and repression all the time and to a certain degree you have the possibility to avoid such situations (according to the circumstances). Nevertheless it is advantageous to be prepared, because political pressure and repression is growing.

Legal Team (+33 6 75 30 95 45)
The Legal Team centralises information about the arrests and organises support (look for people at the police station, prepare defence for a trial…). If you call the number of the legal team, describe the persons outward appearance and clothes; time, place and circumstances of the arrest, NO NAMES, no infomation about the offence. In general the people on the phone should understand French and English. If nobody answers, leave a message with the information. Call the legal team once you or one of your friends are released from the police station.

law enforcement forces
Police Nationale – national police, responsible for the urban area
Gendarmerie Nationale – military police, responsible for the rural area
CRS – riot police, responsible for riot situations
In the ZAD you will usally encounter Gendarmerie and partly CRS.

identity check
If you are a French national, you are not required to have your identity card with you. But if you are a foreign national, you must on principle carry at all times documents proving your right to travel or reside in France (a residence card, a passport or visa, a receipt of your asylum application, etc). When the police is located in the ZAD, identity checks are (depending on the situation) very likely. Often you can avoid the check-points and go through the forest and the fields, nevertheless they can happen.
Many people in the ZAD don’t have any papers with them and refuse to give their identity. In this case you can be detained by the police for up to 4 hours to check your identity. Therefor your photograph or fingerprints can be taken with the permission of the public prosecutor (If you refuse to comply, you are (worst case) liable to be charged with three months of imprisonment and a € 3750 fine). If they have nothing else against you, it is not unlikely that you get free, even if they don’ have your identity.

car search
The gendarmes and normal police are not allowed to search vehicles without a reason. Unless the cops have a special paper from the chief of police giving them extra searching rights: Only the driver is obliged to give their ID and they can not search your car. If they still want to control the Ids of the passengers and search the vehicle, you can demand that they let you read the documents which authorise them to do so (“commission rogatoire”). Verify the date. Such operations can officially only be carried out by an “Officier de Police Judiciaire”. Check that as well.
Apart from that, if you refuse, the police have the right to stop the vehicle for a period of thirty minutes maximum, and wait for instructions from the public prosecutor who can authorise a vehicle search.
If you officially live in your vehicle, the cops need a special paper (commission rogatoire) to be able to do a search. Whatever happens, the longer and more annoying the controls are for the cops, the more likely it is that the cops get discouraged and give up….

During an Action (ecivtions etc.)

Remember to have: the number of the legal team, the contact of a lawyer (familiar lawyers are Pierre Henri Marteret und Stéphane Vallée), important medications

Think about the consequences if you have: illegal drugs, weapons (swiss army knife, opinel etc.), projectiles (glass bottles, stones etc.); phone numbers and adresses

The Gendarmerie can use teargas, flashballs and Concussion grenades.

Affinity group. Be together with people you know anw who can, in case of arrest, call the legal team, or in case of an injury the medic team.

In case of arrest

If you witness an arrest
Call the number of the legal team (+33 6 75 30 95 45) and give a physical description of the person, aswell as the time, the circumstances and place of the arrest. Never give any name over the telephone, nor any kind of information about the crimes maybe commited. If nobody answers, leave a message with the information.

You get arrested
Either you will be kept up to 4 hours which means it is a simple ID control. Otherwise, if they have any accusation against you, they can keep you in custody (garde-a-vue) for 24hours which can be renewed for another 24 hours. They will inform you about your offence and your rights, usually in French. If you need another language, you can tell them and you will get a translator (of course it is a strategic decision, if you reveal your nationality). You have the right to see a doctor, ask for a call (but the police will make it!) and demand a lawyer (either you chose one, or they provide one). You can talk to the lawyer in private, but the lawyer is not necessarily a complice, you’re not obliged to say anything to him/her, nor to trust them. Its up to you to decide your strategy of defence and your attitude in front of the police.
The police will then interrogate you and it is very likely that they want to take a picture, your fingerprints or a DNA sample. If you refuse, it is another delict (up to 1 year imprisonment and 15.000€ fine).
The remaining time you will stay alone in a cell. The public prosecutor decides when your time in custody ends. He/She can then either: let you free, order you to appear before court at a later date, or order for you to be taken to court immediately. In any case, it is very likely that the legal team will get you afterwards.

…the rest will follow soon…