The dissolution of earthly uprisings, presented by Gerald Darmanin this Wednesday in the Council of Ministers.

In recent months, they have been the target of the government. Created in early 2021 and still confidential a year ago, Earth Rise is a symbol of the radical shift now taking place on the edge of the fight for the environment. The demonstration against the mega-basins of Sainte-Solin, which escalated into violent clashes, left its mark: after this event, the executive branch wanted to disband the movement.

A project that will be implemented this Wednesday during the meeting of the Council of Ministers by the Minister of the Interior, as mentioned on Tuesday morning in our columns. “At the request of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, tomorrow morning I will present to the Council of Ministers a decree to end the rebellion of the Earth,” Gerald Darmanin said during questions to the government in the Assembly on Tuesday.

As in the case of an association, the decision to dissolve a “de facto group” (the term used to describe these collectives that are not formally endowed with legal personality) can only be taken by a decision of the Council of Ministers.

In a press release issued early Tuesday morning, the environmental collective denounced the “very political and particularly troubling dissolution demanded directly from the head of state by agribusiness and the FNSEA (National Farmers’ Federation, note).”

Movement lawyers dispute legal basis for dissolution

Before that, the ministry must “explain its claims to representatives of the movement,” we explain in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In a response seen by Reporterre, the movement’s lawyers disputed the legal basis for the dissolution.

“If the Earth Revolts advocate a variety of ways of doing things and praise disarmament and civil disobedience, they neither by their speeches nor by their publications incited to provoke violence against a person or damage to property, and even more so to commit acts of sabotage affecting the fundamental interests of the nation,” they substantiated.

Gerald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, initiated the dissolution of the collective on 28 March. He considers it “violent”, “threatening”, equates to “eco-terrorism”, because of their sabotage operations and their muscular demonstrations, in contact with the police.

Thousands of environmental protesters, including Earth Revolters, gathered this weekend in the Maurienne Valley against the new Lyon-Turin railway project.

The collection was marked by a brief occupation of the A43 motorway and clashes between opponents and police. According to Les Uprisings of the Earth, about 50 demonstrators were injured and six were hospitalized. Gerald Darmanin, he reported 12 wounded gendarmes.