“Libé” returns to meet the French who made the news in our columns to talk about the presidential election. Today, Luka Lissillour, former Sciences-Po Paris at the origin of the movement which led to the resignation of Frédéric Mion, the director who covered the accusations of incest against Olivier Duhamel.
A month of mobilization, almost night and day, and then all of a sudden… nothing. The movement urging Frédéric Mion, director of Sciences-Po Paris, to resign, fell like a puff once the departure of the senior official was announced on February 9, 2021. For having ignored the accusations of incest against Olivier Duhamel, professor honorary within the institution, hundreds of students and alumni pushed him out.
It is in this context that we met Luka Lissillour, one of the initiators of “Mion resignation”, in the unusual tumult of the rue Saint-Guillaume invested by clusters of protesters and banners. The 24-year-old welcomed his former manager’s decision with “relief” and “pride”. Of course he had “prepare” at the end “logic” movement. a little less than “such a brutal collapse” of the collective. “I think we all needed to reflect individually on what we had just experienced. By committing ourselves against the culture of rape and omerta, we shared our experiences, our traumas. We had to deal with the rest.”
“Restorative Justice”
A year later, now a graduate, Luka has lost none of his enthusiasm. We find him to talk about the presidential election. The project appeals to this native of Lyon, carried around in demonstrations since a very young age. He likes “talking politics” and it feels. As the ballot draws near, he carefully studies the programs and listens to the debates. He is interested in the “fight against fuel poverty”, hope “the establishment of real parity” at the highest peak in the state. And regrets a great absence from the speeches: the fight against sexist and sexual violence. “Politicians do not master the subject, it is completely out of step with their concerns.”
However, there is work to do. “With the explosion of testimonies, we went through a period rich in emotion. Now, we have to imagine long-term public policies to put an end to this violence and adapt the judicial response.” “Anti-prison”, he dreams of a reflection on the “restorative justice” and the “rehabilitation of the aggressors”. “We are not going to put them all in prison, it is not possible. But we have to provide an answer, prevent recidivism, deconstruct certain ideas. Politicians have a role to play.
The day after the resignation of Frédéric Mion, carried by the force of this victory, he went to file a complaint for rape against his ex-companion. His tone is veiled when he recounts the interrogations, the wait for an answer, the confrontation surrounded by police and lawyers. The investigation is closed without further action in July. “I do not regret. This story pissed me off. By pushing the door of a police station, it is sum if I had left it between the hands of the police and justice. She doesn’t belong to me anymore.”
Macron “without hesitation”
Luka makes no secret of his attraction to Emmanuel Macron. Former intern in digital communication in the firm of Sibeth Ndiaye, he wears a “very positive outlook” on this quinquennium “strewn with unprecedented crises”. And kick in touch when we talk about the accusations of rape against Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior. He prefers not to talk about it. He has already made his choice and will vote for the outgoing president “from the first round, without hesitation”. His biggest fear? A new presence of the far right in the second round. “People are getting used to their hate speech. Next to Eric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen seems almost softer”, he laments. He gets annoyed, even becomes “very virulent”, when his relatives talk to him about abstaining in the event of a Macron-Le Pen duel. “For me, those who won’t block are people who are privileged enough not to be impacted by the far right.”
Today he is looking for how “reinforce its commitment”. A few months’ experience in press relations in a large luxury group disappointed him. Dreams of glitter do not weigh much against the power of activism and the “need to feel useful”. So he gropes, hopes to find a job “meaningful”, looks, without hiding it, towards the political world. A few months ago, he attended a conference organized with Camille Kouchner on his book, the big family, in which she denounced the abuse of her stepfather on her twin brother when they were teenagers. Luka had only one idea in mind: “Tell him thank you.” “His book provoked ‘Mion resignation’, allowed to open the debate on the culture of rape at Sciences-Po. She changed lives. Mine included.”