(ZENIT News / Paris, 08.06.2024).- On Monday 6 agost in Paris, CitizenGO’s campaign bus denouncing the mockery of Christians in the context of the Olympic Games and promoting StopAttacksOnChristians.org was intercepted by police officers. Armed police surrounded the bus and stopped it at gunpoint, and CitizenGO team members were taken to a Police Station before being transferred to a second secure facility in handcuffs. They were treated unjustly, like criminals; some of them were even denied communication with the outside world.
CitizenGO’s campaign, supported by thousands of donors, was in protest against the anti-Christian and hate-promoting opening ceremony at the Paris Olympic Games. Since the last Olympics in 2021, over 5 million Christians have been displaced from their homes and faced persecution, yet the International Olympic Committee planned an offensive display featuring naked drag queens mocking the Last Supper.
The bus had been active since 9 am, driving around Paris, passing hundreds of police officers during the day without any problems. When they realized the immense attention it was drawing among bystanders and Olympics attendees, fearing the stain on France’s image to the world, the political elites suddenly and viciously censored CitizenGO in a manner akin to an authoritarian regime. The French police, under political orders from high-level political authorities, arrested six campaigners and the bus driver at 7 pm. All of their belongings were confiscated, they were stripped and searched, and they were illegally denied to call their personal lawyers, and some were even not allowed to call their family members, held on non-existent charges.
The detainees faced psychological pressure and threats of extended captivity and spent the night in gross conditions, some even without food or water. Despite the lack of legal grounds for their arrest, significant pressure from CitizenGO’s lawyer was required to guarantee their release, which didn’t happen until after 4 am.
This incident underscores the need for citizen action in defending life, family, and freedom against political and ideological persecution. United, we can confront such injustices and safeguard our fundamental rights.
If this is not political or ideological persecution, what is this?
CitizenGO lawyer stated early in the morning: “It appears impossible to constitute the crime of failing to communicate a protest because there is no protest in the presence of one unique vehicle. The prosecutor pushed the law to its limits to stop the bus and limit their free speech. Moreover, the procedure was irregular.”
Following legal pressure the authorities were forced to release our courageous team after they realized they could not have them imprisoned for no legal reason.
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