SHARE
COPY LINK

GREENPEACE

Greenpeace activists face fine over Eiffel Tower protest

Greenpeace activists who hung a banner from the Eiffel Tower in protest against far-right leader Marine Le Pen should be given €500 fines and suspended sentences, French prosecutors said on Friday.

Greenpeace activists face fine over Eiffel Tower protest
This file photo taken on May 5th shows a banner reading "liberty, equality, fraternity" hung by Greenpeace activists on the Eiffel Tower to protest against the far-right Front National (FN) party. Pho
Demonstrators from the environmental campaign group unfurled the banner which read “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity #Resist” from the iconic tower on May 5 last year, two days before the second round of the election.
 
The protest was in response to the “crazy situation” which saw the Front National leader reach the run-off vote with the eventual winner Emmanuel Macron, one activist said.
 
On Friday, nine of the defendants admitted having cut a safety net to carry out the protest but denied having damaged a fence.
 
Prosecutors asked the courts to hand each activist a three month suspended sentence and a €500 fine for trespassing. The defendants, who refused to offer a DNA sample in custody, should be handed an extra €200 fine, they added.
 
A Greenpeace spokeswoman said the penalties requested were “particularly severe”.
 
The group are due to be sentenced next month.

TOURISM

Eiffel Tower reopens from its longest closure since World War II

The Eiffel Tower reopened to visitors on Friday for the first time in nine months following its longest closure since World War II.

Eiffel Tower reopens from its longest closure since World War II
The Eiffel Tower reopens on Friday. Photo: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP

The lifts of the Dame de fer (Iron Lady) are set to whir back into life, transporting tourists to its 300-metre summit, ending a long period of inactivity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Daily capacity is restricted to 13,000 people, however, about half of the normal level, in order to respect social distancing.

And from Wednesday next week, visitors will need to show either proof of vaccination or a negative test, in line with recent government-imposed requirements on the pass sanitaire (health passport).

READ ALSO How France’s expanded health passport will work this summer

“Obviously it’s an additional operational complication, but it’s manageable,” the head of the operating company, Jean-François Martins, told AFP.

After a final round of safety checks by staff, he announced that the “lady is ready”.

Early reservations for tickets during the summer holiday period underline how the tourism industry in Paris has changed due to travel restrictions.

Martins said there was an “almost total absence” of British ticket holders, while only 15 percent were Americans and very few are from Asia.

READ ALSO Eiffel Tower: 13 things you didn’t know about Paris’ ‘iron lady’

Half of visitors are expected to be French, while Italians and Spanish make up a higher proportion than usual.

The long closure has caused havoc with the finances of the operating company, Sete, which runs the monument on behalf of Paris city authorities.

It is set to seek additional government aid and a fresh €60-million cash injection to stay afloat, having seen its revenues fall by 75 percent to €25 million in 2020.

The masterpiece by architect Gustave Eiffel has also been hit by problems linked to its latest paint job, the 20th time it has been repainted since its construction in 1889.

Work was halted in February because of high levels of lead detected on the site, which poses a health risk to workers.

Tests are still underway and painting is set to resume only in the autumn, meaning a part of the facade is obscured by scaffolding and safety nets.

SHOW COMMENTS