• bbbhltz@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    The quote in the French article uses the term les grands délinquants. And in French it is just a synonym of criminal or someone who repeatedly breaks the law. So, not a false description.

    In France there are plenty of offences that can net you a maximum 5 year term, so this law will not go unused.

    And for those not in the know, France is civil law, not common law: the whole jury thing with lawyers making statements isn’t a thing here. Meaning that a judge’s interpretation of the law determines punishment.

    • ATGM 🚀@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      So what this probably means in practice is that this power is assured to be abused to target activists and civil disobedience.

      As is tradition, whenever a repression institution is created, it’ll be used almost exclusively on the left with a few token Nazis thrown in if they get a little too terroristic for the current tastes of the powers that be.