ER Editor: This story was picked up by Le Point yesterday (browsers will translate). See —
The “disturbing” arrest of a French publisher in London
Of note:
During his interrogation (ER: by UK police), the investigators mentioned to Ernest Moret “a demonstration” to which the editor would have gone, or intended to go soon, in France. His entourage points to the strange questions asked of him: “Do you support the French president? Have you demonstrated against the pension reform? What do you think of the management of the Covid crisis?” According to La Fabrique, which denounces a “logic of political censorship and repression of currents of protesting ideas”, this arrest could have been directly requested by the French authorities.
Moret was detained in police custody for 24 hours, having had his phone and laptop taken away.
See also this by Le Monde (paywall), who note that Moret’s problems began before leaving Paris:
French publisher’s arrest in London on terrorism charge sparks concern
Trouble began at Paris’ Gare du Nord station on Monday. The British border police stopped him for questioning, causing him to miss his train at 5:13 pm. He took the next one. “When we arrived at St. Pancras, a woman in a suit and a man in a suit came up to us, and presented us with a document referring to paragraph 7 of the 2000 anti-terrorism law,” explained Magliani-Belkacem to Le Monde. Under this law, the British border police are authorized to detain any traveler “without reasonable doubt,” and there is no need for them to justify themselves. They are able to access a detainee’s telephone or computer in such a case, and if the detainee refuses they can be imprisoned for a maximum of three months.
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UK police condemned over arrest of French publisher
Ernest Moret’s colleagues have claimed that officers cited his participation in anti-government protests in his homeland
RT
London’s Metropolitan Police force has come under fire for its treatment of a French national arrested under anti-terrorist legislation earlier this week. Publisher Ernest Moret was reportedly told that his involvement in protests in his homeland were behind his detention in the UK capital.
Moret’s employer, French publishing house Éditions La Fabrique, issued a press release with fellow publisher Verso Books on Thursday in which they described the behavior of British officers as “scandalous.”
“We consider these actions to be outrageous and unjustifiable infringements of basic principles of the freedom of expression and an example of the abuse of anti-terrorism laws,” the statement read.
The publishers further claimed that Moret’s arrest was the latest example of a “slide towards repressive and authoritarian measures taken by the current French government in the face of widespread popular discontent and protest.”
According to the statement, Moret had arrived in London on Monday to take part in the London Book Fair. While at St. Pancras Station, he was allegedly “pulled aside by police officers acting under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and detained for questioning without a lawyer present.”
The arresting officers reportedly explained that Moret was taken into custody because he had participated in recent anti-government protests back in France. He was held for questioning for six hours before being charged with obstruction. His phone and computer were also confiscated.
The two publishing houses insisted that the case proves there is “complicity between French and British authorities on this matter.”
The formal reason for Moret’s arrest was stated as obstruction of police duties. His colleagues alleged that officers had demanded that Moret hand over his cell phone and unblock it, which he supposedly refused to do.
Pamela Morton from the UK National Union of Journalists (NUJ) wrote: “It seems extraordinary that the British police have acted this way in using terrorism legislation to arrest the publisher who was on legitimate business here for the London Book Fair.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed in a statement that “at around 1930hrs on Monday, 17 April, a 28-year-old man was stopped by ports officers… under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.”
The AFP news agency later reported that Moret had been released on bail.
France has been gripped by mass protests in recent weeks as people vent their dissatisfaction at a retirement age increase pushed through by President Emmanuel Macron.
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Source
Published to The Liberty Beacon from EuropeReloaded.com
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