PARIS, June 26, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – French pro-family activists are organizing mass protests in Paris and other parts of the country against the arrest and imprisonment of a young demonstrator who was allegedly roughted up by police, sentenced to a minimum of two months in jail, and placed in solitary confinement for his participation in a demonstration against homosexual “marriage.”
A photo of the student, hog tied and face down in the back of a police vehicle following his arrest, has circulated widely on the internet, further stoking the outrage of pro-family groups.
According to his attorney, 23-year-old Nicolas Bernard-Buss was grabbed by police at a Paris pizzeria after authorities had dispersed a demonstration in which he was allegedly taking part.
Although he was not engaged in any illegal activity at the time, the police treated him with “great brutality,” causing “bruises and a cut on his leg, wounds that the police haven’t explained, given that they were not present at the hearing,” his representative told Le Figaro.
Although the owner of the pizzeria implied to reporters that Bernard-Buss resisted arrest, his attorney notes that “everything he’s charged with happened after his arrest. He hasn’t been held responsible for any violence towards the police.”
The youth was ultimately convicted for “rebellion” in connection with the unauthorized demonstration in which he was participating, signing his last name incorrectly (as “Berns” rather than “Bernard-Buss”) and refusing to give a fingerprint to police.
He has appealed the decision.
In addition to the solitary confinement, there are unconfirmed reports that Bernard-Buss was not permitted to bathe for over a week, and has no access to books, despite the many letters that officials have received from his supporters.
The long sentence and harsh treatment meted out to Bernard-Buss is very different from that given recently to a group of left-wing demonstrators protesting the death of an “anti-fascist” youth killed while in a fight with an opposing group.
Although the protesters broke storefront windows, carried illegal weapons, and were also arrested for “rebellion,” only two were held by police, and were then released. One has a court date for September, but remains free.
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The Bernard-Buss case has galvanized opponents of President Francois Hollande’s libertine socialist regime, which has provoked the opposition of hundreds of thousands of protesters by passing legislation creating homosexual “marriage” and adoption rights in recent months.
Although the “marriage for all” bill has become law, opponents have not ceased to gather to express their disagreement. Yet they are often treated with brutality by police, who indiscriminately attack women and children with tear gas and other weapons.
The treatment of Bernard-Buss has provoked responses from both members of the opposition UMP party and even leftist historian Giuseppe Di Bella-Viane, who supports homosexual “marriage,” regards the sentence against Bernard-Buss as excessive.
“I’m in favor of marriage for all, very much committed to this law of the Republic, and I think that the condemnation of Nicolas Bernard-Buss is particularly heavy, disproportionate with regard to the acts for which he is accused,” he wrote in a recent column.
Contact:
Embassy of France in the United States
4101 Reservoir Rd NW,
Washington D.C. 20007
Tel: 202 944 6000
Email: [email protected]
Embassy of France in Canada
42 Sussex drive, Ottawa, ON K1M 2C9
Tel: (613) 789 1795
Email: [email protected]
A Facebook page, in French, has been created to support Bernard-Buss: https://www.facebook.com/SoutienANicolas
To write to Nicolas Bernard-Buss:
M. Nicolas BERNARD BUSS
404 247 // D-4v M.A de Fleury
7, avenue des peupliers
91 700 FLEURY-MEROGIS
FRANCE