Julien Coupat (born June 4, 1974 in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

) is a French appellist and political

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. As one of the Tarnac Nine, he was arrested on November 11, 2008 and accused of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

in connection with a plot to

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

French train lines. Coupat spent over six months in jail before being released on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

; he was held for a significantly longer period than other members of the Tarnac Nine because French police believed him to be the leader of the group, which they described as an

Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

cell. Since the time of the 2008 arrests, the legal case against Coupat and the other members of the Tarnac Nine had weakened. On August 7, 2015, French judge Jeanne Duyé ordered that the specifically ''terrorist'' related charges against the group and against Coupat be dropped; On January 10, 2017, the French Supreme Court upheld this decision. Following this, Coupat and the other members of the Tarnac Nine were still expected to face various lesser charges. On April 12, 2018, Coupat and other members of the Tarnac Nine were acquitted of the most significant remaining charges, particularly

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

and

, although some members were still convicted of lesser, symbolic charges, and ordered to pay fines.

Biography

Julien Coupat is the son of a medical doctor and a theater troupe director. After studying business at the

École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales Founded in 1907, ESSEC Business School (École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales) is a French higher education institution specialising in business and management. It is a grande école, a type of institution known for select ...

(ESSEC), he switched to social sciences at the

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conj ...

(EHESS) but did not complete his doctorate.« Julien Coupat, étudiant brillant et chef présumé des saboteurs »
NouvelObs.com, 18 novembre 2008. 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 Corrèze (; ) is a département in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, on the bo ...

department where he and his friends ran a farm and an all-purpose store.

The TGV sabotage affair

On the night of 7–8 November 2008, Coupat and his partner Yildune Lévy went for a car ride and played cat-and-mouse with police cars following them. Their trip included a 20-minute stop in Dhuisy, in the

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

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 The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

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, on January 16, 2009.Chronology

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

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 applauded by

Interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...

Michèle Alliot-Marie Michèle Yvette Marie-Thérèse Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie (; born 10 September 1946), known in France as MAM, is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France. She is a member of the The Republicans (France), Rep ...

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 a highly unusual procedure.« Un pas vers la liberté pour Julien Coupat »
''Libération'', 20 décembre 2008 The French police said he was part of the Invisible Committee of the book '' The Coming Insurrection'', which was denied by the publisher and Julien Coupat himself.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coupat, Julien 1974 births Living people French activists French anarchists

Biography

The TGV sabotage affair

Controversy

See also

References