Court convicts Air France workers in 2015 protest case

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS

A French court on Wednesday convicted 13 former and current Air France workers for taking part in last year’s violence during a union protest that saw two company executives flee over a fence with their shirts getting ripped off their backs, according to a local daily.

The court in Bobigny near Paris sentenced three men to three-to-four month long suspended terms for aggravated assault. Ten others were given a €500 ($530) fine for property damage. Two people were acquitted, Le Figaro reported.

The violence erupted in October 2015 when the French national carrier announced up to 2,900 job cuts following years of losses during a union meeting. Air France eventually dropped the restructuring plan.

The images of the attacks on the Air France managers had made headlines around the world in October 2015, and drew sharp condemnation from French politicians and the business community.

Footage of the airline’s human resources department head Xavier Broseta, and Pierre Plissonnier, director of long-haul operations, showing them semi-bare-chested and with mere threads of the shirt remaining, and trying to scale a fence to escape after being chased out of a meeting at Air France headquarters had made headlines.

The company said in a statement the sentences "enable us to close this sad episode", but lawyer Lilia Mhissen, acting on behalf of most of the defendants, said she would encourage them to appeal.