FRANCE: This is a bad time to be a beggar, squatter, traveller or prostitute in France. A draft law presented to the government by the Interior Minister, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, yesterday constitutes "a war against the poor", according to the left-wing opposition, trade unions, human rights and church groups.
Mr Sarkozy insists he is defending France's "forgotten victims" whose security was neglected by the State. The law that bears his name will be debated in the National Assembly from November 5th.
Under the Sarkozy Law, "aggressive begging", squatting in abandoned buildings, unauthorised camping and touting in the street will become offences punishable by six-month prison sentences and fines of €3,750. People loitering in the entry or stairwell of apartment buildings risk two months in prison and a €3,750 fine - a response, Mr Sarkozy says, to inhabitants of poor neighbourhoods who are intimidated by young men who gather to talk, listen to loud music and sell drugs in housing projects. The theft of a mobile telephone - another frequent complaint - will be punishable by two years in prison.
Threatening "a person vested with public authority or entrusted with a public service mission" - a policeman, gendarme, customs officer, fireman, prison guard or magistrate - will be punishable by two years in prison and a €30,000 fine.
Merely cursing a cop could become grounds for arrest, trial and conviction. Uttering a death threat could lead to five years in prison and a €75,000 fine. Building guards, their families and "anyone habitually living in their home" are among those whom it is forbidden to threaten.
Until now, "passive" prostitution was legal in France. But under the Sarkozy law, "dress or attitude" deemed to be an "incitement to sexual relations" are grounds for a fine and imprisonment. This de facto ban on prostitution marks a radical change in French law. Since 1960, pandering was an offence but prostitutes were considered victims and encouraged to denounce their pimps. Opponents of the law note it does nothing to fight traffickers who bring young women from eastern Europe and Africa. They fear it will drive prostitutes underground and make them more vulnerable to the violence of pimps and clients. They also fear it could lead to racketeering of prostitutes by police, a problem that led to the last revolt of French prostitutes in 1975. To show their displeasure at the Sarkozy Law, prostitutes will demonstrate in front of the Senate on November 5th.
Those who exploit children and cripples as beggars risk five years in prison and a €45,000 fine - a measure intended to stop Romanian rings like those dismantled in several French cities this summer.
An appeal issued by about 30 groups, including the socialist, communist and green parties and the Human Rights League, warns that if the Sarkozy Law is adopted "it could lead to an authoritarian State that represses all those who have the misfortune to fall by the wayside." The draft law "creates a Republic where poverty is considered an offence", it continues. "Fighting insecurity does not mean designating the poor as scapegoats and subjecting every citizen to the arbitrary will of the State."
The left lost this year's presidential and legislative elections largely because voters considered it soft on crime. Mr Sarkozy rejects allegations that he is trying to win over extreme right-wing voters. As he left the cabinet meeting where he presented his 55-page text yesterday, the Interior Minister said he wants "to protect the French people who've been forgotten for so many years by the State". The poor suffer most from insecurity, he noted. "They are at the heart of the draft law that I proposed in the name of the government, to guarantee them the security they need."