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The bill was quickly dubbed La Loi Anticasseura (the anti-wreckers law) after the Premier's remark. Its most controversial feature was its concept of "collective responsibility," which gives police the right to arrest anybody in the vicinity of an illegal demonstration, whether he appears to be demonstrating or not. A mere tourist watching a disturbance from what he considers a safe distance could thus be hauled off to jail along with the rioters. Those convicted are subject to prison terms of three months to five years, and are liable for property damage caused by the rioting. To make it easier for judges to determine damages, the Paris police have obligingly published a price list of their equipment—$1 for a nightstick, $135 for a complete uniform.
The bill has been supported by many working-class Frenchmen, whose longstanding resentment of students has been intensified by recent rioting. But it was strongly attacked by jurists and politicians ranging from leftists to some Gaullists. Labor leaders were particularly worried that the law might be applied to nonstudent demonstrations. Some critics noted that a peaceful demonstration could become violent almost by accident—or because its sponsors' enemies caused provocation. Le Monde said the law could lead to a "real French version of Z," the current film that deals with political repression in Greece. When President Georges Pompidou told a gathering that "the authority of the state is the best guarantee of the citizen's liberty," the left-wing daily Combat was outraged. In a play on the name of Greece's Premier George Papadopoulos, the newspaper headlined its story POMPIDOUPOULOS.
Explosive Weekend. Before the National Assembly overwhelmingly approved the bill three weeks ago, its opponents managed to water it down slightly. The new version retains the principle of collective guilt, but only those who "consciously remain" at the site of a demonstration after violence begins can be held as "wreckers."
When the bill goes before the French Senate this week, it is likely to be approved without any serious opposition. Its chances were strengthened by a recent wave of violence that has been generally attributed to Maoists, albeit without much real proof; over a single weekend, there were 25 bombing and arson incidents throughout France, not to mention the looting of Paris' super-gourmet shop, Fauchon (see THE NATION), by Maoist students. Said the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine last week in a front-page headline summing up that explosive weekend: LA