Julien Coupat
Encyclopedia
Julien Coupat is a French
political activist
at the centre of a controversial investigation. As one of the Tarnac Nine
, he was accused of plotting the sabotage
of train lines in November 2008, which the French government decided to define as terrorism
, and spent over six months in jail before being released on bail
.
. After studying business at the École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales (ESSEC), he switched to social sciences at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales
(EHESS) but did not complete his doctorate. In 1999, he co-founded a radical philosophy magazine called Tiqqun
before setting up a commune in 2005 in the village of Tarnac
in the Corrèze
department where he and his friends ran a farm and an all-purpose store. Coupat and his girlfriend Yildune Lévy came to the attention of the FBI after protesting outside an army recruitment centre in New York City, which was later the target of a bomb attack, having crossed the border from Canada illicitly. The Bureau flagged the pair up to their French counterparts, who began investigating the group.
, in the Seine-et-Marne
department, by their account for a sex session in the vehicle. Their car was parked near a train line in one of the locations where iron hooks were left dangling from the overhead lines that night, paralysing the high-speed TGV
network.
On November 11, gendarmes
raided the Tarnac farm and arrested nine residents in connection with the sabotage. Four of the nine were released on November 15, under conditions. A further three were released on December 2, and the last but one, Lévy, in January 2009. Coupat remained in jail until May 28, 2009, when he was released under bail with instructions to remain in the Paris region and have no contacts with the other 8.
Michèle Alliot-Marie
who described the suspects as "an anarcho-autonomist cell" and Coupat as its leader. A judge first ordered Coupat's release on December 19, 2008, but the judicial services immediately appealed, using an unusual procedure. Controversy erupted and inflated in the next six months over government spin on the case, Coupat's repeated failure to secure a release on bail despite investigators having no evidence against him, and the nature of the charges against him, when the acts of sabotage were not of a nature to cause bodily harm to anyone. The French police said he was part of the Invisible Committee of the book The Coming Insurrection
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
political activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
at the centre of a controversial investigation. As one of the Tarnac Nine
Tarnac Nine
The Tarnac Nine are nine alleged anarchist saboteurs arrested in the village of Tarnac, France in November 2008 in relation to a series of instances of direct action...
, he was accused of plotting the sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
of train lines in November 2008, which the French government decided to define as terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, and spent over six months in jail before being released on bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
.
Biography
Julien Coupat is the son of a medical doctor and an executive at Sanofi-AventisSanofi-Aventis
Sanofi S.A. is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, the world's fourth-largest by prescription sales. Sanofi engages in the research and development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products for sale principally in the prescription market, but the...
. After studying business at the École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales (ESSEC), he switched to social sciences at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
The École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
(EHESS) but did not complete his doctorate. In 1999, he co-founded a radical philosophy magazine called Tiqqun
Tiqqun
Tiqqun is the name of a French philosophical journal, founded in 1999 with an aim to "recreate the conditions of another community." It was created by various writers, before dissolving in Venice in 2001 following the attacks of September 11, 2001...
before setting up a commune in 2005 in the village of Tarnac
Tarnac
Tarnac is a commune in the Corrèze department in central France.-Population:...
in the Corrèze
Corrèze
Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
department where he and his friends ran a farm and an all-purpose store. Coupat and his girlfriend Yildune Lévy came to the attention of the FBI after protesting outside an army recruitment centre in New York City, which was later the target of a bomb attack, having crossed the border from Canada illicitly. The Bureau flagged the pair up to their French counterparts, who began investigating the group.
The TGV sabotage affair
In the night of 7–8 November 2008, Coupat and Lévy went for a car ride and played cat-and-mouse with police cars following them. Their trip included a 20-minute stop in DhuisyDhuisy
Dhuisy is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* *...
, in the Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
department, by their account for a sex session in the vehicle. Their car was parked near a train line in one of the locations where iron hooks were left dangling from the overhead lines that night, paralysing the high-speed TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
network.
On November 11, gendarmes
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
raided the Tarnac farm and arrested nine residents in connection with the sabotage. Four of the nine were released on November 15, under conditions. A further three were released on December 2, and the last but one, Lévy, in January 2009. Coupat remained in jail until May 28, 2009, when he was released under bail with instructions to remain in the Paris region and have no contacts with the other 8.
Controversy
The arrests were publicly greeted by Interior ministerMinister of the Interior (France)
The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
Michèle Alliot-Marie
Michèle Alliot-Marie
Michèle Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie, born 10 September 1946 and nicknamed MAM, is a French politician of the Union for a Popular Movement . A member of all but one right-wing governments of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, she was the first woman in France to hold the portfolios of Defense , the...
who described the suspects as "an anarcho-autonomist cell" and Coupat as its leader. A judge first ordered Coupat's release on December 19, 2008, but the judicial services immediately appealed, using an unusual procedure. Controversy erupted and inflated in the next six months over government spin on the case, Coupat's repeated failure to secure a release on bail despite investigators having no evidence against him, and the nature of the charges against him, when the acts of sabotage were not of a nature to cause bodily harm to anyone. The French police said he was part of the Invisible Committee of the book The Coming Insurrection
The Coming Insurrection
The Coming Insurrection is a French work that hypothesizes the "imminent collapse of capitalist culture"...
.