Raphaël Kempf is a criminal defense attorney in Paris and author of Enemies of the States.
The movement against Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform saw shocking scenes of police violence against protesters. Yet far from standing up to abuses, the justice system is turning a blind eye to the government’s attacks on civil liberties.
Emmanuel Macron’s administration has used the pandemic as a pretext to create police powers extending far beyond any rational response to COVID-19. It’s the latest in a long line of French governments using moments of national crisis to shred basic civil liberties.