Members of Gale – anti-fascist group Lyon and surroundings – had been notified of the launch of the procedure for disbanding their group in mid-March. Their lawyers sent their conflicting submissions on Monday. This was not enough to convince the government to back down. The anti-fascist group Lyon and surroundings, an autonomous movement, was dissolved this Wednesday in the Council of Ministers. It was Gabriel Attal, government spokesperson, who announced it at the start of the afternoon on Wednesday. “We have adopted the dissolution of the de facto grouping known as the Lyon and surrounding anti-fascist group known for its violent actions, its calls for hatred and its virulent and incessant incitement to attack our police forces. We will enforce the republican order to the end and face all those who threaten it,” he said.
Le Gale had been in the sights of the Interior Ministry for several months already. After anti-police remarks during the Lyon antifa fest, last December, Gérald Darmanin had made a report to the Ministry of Justice. In January, the ultra-left group had also relayed on social networks the watchword of several environmental movements issuing an “ultimatum” to the German pharmaceutical and agrochemical giant Bayer, whose French headquarters is in Lyon, ordering it to make his “boxes”. Right-wing elected officials had denounced threats and called for the dissolution of the movement.
“The anti-fascists of Lyon will not disappear”
They had already announced it from the start of the dissolution procedure, the Lyon anti-fascists will turn to justice. “We will go to the Council of State. We’re not going to let go. We will still be talked about, that’s for sure. They’re not going to nail our mouths with a breakup. The elections are coming with an extreme right at its strongest, there are still fascists in Lyon, there are still a lot of things to criticize in the government, in particular we see what they have just done with the dissolution of a left-wing group , so no, the anti-fascists of Lyon will not disappear and they will still be present in the next demonstrations” assured a member of the group at the Progress this Wednesday afternoon.
Raphaël Arnault, anti-fascist activist from another Lyon group, spokesperson for the Young Guard, reacted in particular on social networks.
“We do not dissolve a revolt that rumbles”: last Saturday, behind this banner, between 280 demonstrators, according to the Rhône prefecture and 500, according to our counts, had demonstrated in Lyon to protest against the procedure for dissolving Gale. A support committee has posted a petition on Change.org asking the government to back down. She had collected only some 570 signatures by Wednesday morning.