A week after requesting the intervention of the police on the night of April 24 to 25 to put an end to a student occupation at the call of the Palestine Sciences Po committee, the provisional administrator of the establishment takes speaking for the first time about this mobilization in support of the Palestinian people. Friday April 26, Jean Bassères negotiated a compromise with the students, putting an end to a new occupation. He responds to the numerous criticisms which accuse him of having “dropped everything” to one “active minority”according to the expression of the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal.
Why did you decide to open a negotiation with the students who blocked Sciences Po on Friday, when two days earlier, you had sent the police to evacuate them?
Friday evening, we were in a rather exceptional situation. Personally, I was convinced that the intervention of the police within Sciences Po would have been a difficult operation which would not have made it possible to put an end to the blocking actions. It’s true that I had made the opposite decision two days earlier, the context appearing very different to me. The alternative was therefore to find a negotiation solution based on a compromise which could possibly also allow the mobilized students to make commitments beyond the question of occupation itself. It is this narrow path that I have chosen.
The students made a commitment that there would be no further disruption to classes, exams and the life of the establishment. But I naturally remain cautious. If this commitment is not kept, the consequences should be drawn. On Wednesday evening, calling the police was a difficult decision, which, moreover, is contested by a significant part of the academic community. I did this by measuring the risks and being convinced that the intervention would be carried out without jeopardizing the safety of the students. The risk was maintaining occupation over time.
At the end of this negotiation, you announced a lifting of the referrals to the disciplinary section initiated since April 17, which earned you numerous criticisms. Did you give in to a form of blackmail from the mobilized students?
I have read and heard a lot of inaccurate things about these negotiations. I insist, the suspension of referrals to the disciplinary section only applies to the events which took place from April 17 to 19, when students demonstrated loudly on the staircase of the presidency and the school management. I have decided to suspend the referral for facts which are therefore not of significant seriousness. I accept this, which does not mean that all disciplinary actions against mobilized students are suspended. The events linked to the occupation of the Boutmy amphitheater on March 12 are not affected by this decision. To date, I am awaiting the result of the preliminary internal investigations unit, which will suggest possible referrals to the disciplinary section. Around forty hearings were carried out to try to establish the facts.
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