Overview

• On June 23, the tribunal correctionnel in Pontoise cleared Dominique Kudla and five others of charges including unlawful eviction, racially motivated violence and property damage.
• Presiding Judge Hélène Tortel ruled that the legal elements constitutifs de l’infraction were not characterized for any defendant.
• The case stemmed from a February 2023 protest by roughly 200 residents that escalated into the forced eviction and razing of a camp occupied by 150 to 200 Romani people.
• During the incident Kudla told gendarmes protesters needed to “vent themselves” and later ordered a trench dug to prevent the camp’s return.
• Prosecutors had requested acquittal on the basis that the mayor had been “present but in a withdrawn capacity” when the camp was destroyed.