Stéphane Pocrain, EELV adviser, dismissed from the party for inappropriate behavior towards women

It is a new case which Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) would have gone nicely. Accused by a number of girls of inappropriate conduct, Stéphane Pocrain, an adviser to the historic shadow of the Greens, was dismissed from the social gathering on June four, based on the information known in September and which has just been published by Mediapart. The chief board has determined to droop all collaboration with him " as a precaution ".

The person is focused by a number of costs. To begin with that of Emma (*) an environmentalist parliamentary attaché, who lodged a grievance on February 14, 2020 in Brussels for " psychological harassment ". Or Sarah's (*) a former worker of the communication company that Stéphane Pocrain ran till 2018. She tells Mediapart his sexist remarks and inappropriate phrases, like this time when he mentioned: " I need to work with you afterwards, that's why I didn't fuck you. "

Throughout the social gathering, and specifically the feminist fee, it’s a new shock, particularly after the affair Denis baupin. In July 2017, volunteers had been skilled to hearken to testimonials and an e-mail deal with devoted to their reception was created. " The emails despatched to this deal with, earlier than an inside investigation unit was set as much as cope with these reviews, have sadly fallen into oblivion. ", explains to Reporterre Rosalie Salaün, answerable for feminism commission of Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) and elected inside this internal investigation unit, the precept of which was voted in 2016, clarified in 2018 and which remains to be being finalized. The social gathering has additionally modified its guidelines of process so as to have the ability to sanction an individual implicated within the occasion of violence or harassment. Nonetheless, even when these gadgets had been environment friendly, they might not have been utilized by the sufferer, because the perpetrator, Stéphane Pocrain is not a member of ’EELV For years.

Sandra Regol, deputy nationwide secretary of the social gathering, believes that it is going to be essential to take inventory of the actions applied and maybe outsource the reception of speech, thus guaranteeing the anonymity of these wishing to confide. " We’re one of many few events making an attempt to equip ourselves with the means to look after and defend the victims ", she mentioned to Reporterre. " We sail by sight and we expertise issues. At the moment, to talk of ethical or sexual harassment isn’t one thing built-in by our society. Typically the primary and really conservative response is to downplay the info. "

Since when had been social gathering officers conscious of Stéphane Pocrain's actions (who didn’t reply our questions) ? The complainant claims to have warned her entourage many instances, in addition to Julien bayou, near Stéphane Pocrain, who advises him to " volunteer title ". Contacted by Reporterre, the social gathering's nationwide secretary and regional councilor for Île-de-France assures us that he was unaware of this story. " Individuals didn’t inform me about it as a result of they thought I used to be already knowledgeable. " He believes that he did what was crucial in a short time as quickly as he was knowledgeable of the info, with a brief dismissal from Stéphane Pocrain. " It was not a simple resolution to make and it’s not a court docket resolution ", he mentioned to Reporterre. " It isn’t about prejudging doable guilt. It is a conservative measure within the literal sense of the time period, taken as a matter of urgency as a result of it’s about giving precedence to the voices of potential victims. "

Sandra Regol, deputy nationwide secretary of the social gathering.

Stéphane Pocrain isn’t solely Julien Bayou's advisor. It has been greater than twenty years that the person has rubbed shoulders with all social gathering executives, from Noël Mamère to Eva Joly, together with Cécile Duflot and Yannick Jadot – read the box below. " No person will inform you that Stéphane Pocrain doesn’t work nicely. He has an actual sensitivity to rising tendencies in society. In addition to a capability to stage concepts that not everybody has. He’s a pleasant advisor to some members, however he has no official perform at EELV ", assures Sandra Regol.

His community, his expertise and his standing would they’ve led some folks to show a blind eye to his actions? ? That is the entire principle of " other than that " developed by the political scientist Vanessa Jerome : " It concentrates lots of expertise, data and expertise in a fairly uncommon manner ", she mentioned to Reporterre. " He has been current on the earth of political ecology for thirty years. He is aware of the historical past, the primary figures and the methods, particularly because it's a small world. Furthermore, he writes nicely, he expresses himself nicely, he’s credible on in style ecology. Due to this fact, "aside" his condemnations in the direction of his former companion, "aside" rumors of violence towards girls who’ve been working within the social gathering for years, it’s "excellent". ".

" It’s simpler for everybody to remain in a established order, nevertheless uneasy, than to alter issues "

Settle for violence. To tan the leather-based. Don't complain. Be robust. A number of injunctions are issued to girls politicians who, regardless of the #Metoo wave and the Baupin affair, are nonetheless struggling to convey out these problems with harassment and aggression within the public area. The mechanisms that result in the copy of this violence, the silences and the complicity within the political area are completely described in an article entitled Sexual violence & partisan responses, printed by Vanessa Jérome.

" What to do, lastly, when the violent man occupies excessive positions within the hierarchy of mandates and inside capabilities, and / or has gathered a lot political capital of his personal that he can break away from his social gathering guidelines? ? ", asks the researcher. The query of impunity, which arose sharply in the course of theDenis Baupin case, is again in pressure with that of Stéphane Pocrain. " Everybody hears rumors, is uncomfortable with the character, the large place he takes with social gathering leaders regardless of his condemnations, however nobody says something. It’s laborious to clarify why. I believe it's simpler for everybody to remain in a single established order, even uneasy, than to alter issues ", assures the complainant Emma (1).

Feminist protest, March eight, 2019.

Rosalie Salaün refuses to talk of unhealthy will on the a part of the Greens. " Quite, it’s a matter of priorities. That is furthermore, very sarcastically, the rationale why Emma's grievance was rejected by the Belgian courts: "different priorities" (2) A celebration all the time has different priorities. However the political calendar is everlasting, you can not ask girls to attend till such and such a marketing campaign or that election has handed. "

In a tribune published by Mediapart on Could 21, Isabelle Attard, Elen Debost, Annie Lahmer and Sandrine Rousseau, the 4 girls who publicly testified towards Denis Baupin on his eight victims, anxious in regards to the lack of actual change in political life. " This collective victory, on which an ideological renewal, a change of paradigm (so expensive to environmentalists), a shared pleasure in having supported other ways of exercising politics, might have been pushed, was buried in a deep nicely of silence. " They then proposed completely different avenues of reflection for " create a combative sorority " and " pressure males to query their political practices ".

For Sandra Regol, the query is to not disguise the rumors or to shut our eyes, however to offer a second likelihood: " For a very long time, voices had been raised towards the presence of Pocrain. Both manner, we had the identical reply. The info talked about had been greater than ten years previous, he had been convicted and had served his sentence. He had the precise to not be condemned all his life ". This proper to redemption, the sufferer Emma additionally believed. " I used to be the primary to inform me. Particularly since, in my work, I’ve regarded on the situations of detention in prisons and the tough query of the reintegration of detainees. How then to not apply the ideas that we defend after we are instantly confronted with them ? ", she explains. " The issue is, we've been served this second-chance story by leaving out – deliberately or not – essential items of the puzzle. Through the lawsuit filed in 2007 by his ex-partner Anne-Charlotte Keller, three different ex-companions and victims of Stéphane Pocrain testified to recurring relationship patterns with extraordinarily violent conduct. These victims didn’t file a grievance, and these info subsequently remained unknown to the justice system and went unpunished. This means that his conviction in 2008 was not the results of an remoted accident. Regardless of this conviction and these three different testimonies at trial, he was rehabilitated. I’ve the sensation that we put girls at risk ".

The feminism fee in the course of the march towards gender-based violence, November 23, 2019, in Paris.

Will this new case of violence and harassment hurt the Greens? ? " At first, it may be stigmatizing, and have a political price. However it might additionally present that the social gathering takes these points very significantly. ", says Rosalie Salaün. For his half, Julien Bayou fears the results of such revelations, whereas assuming the results. " Now we have made the selection to face actuality whereas different political events are in full denial. " Are the Greens unfairly stigmatized when it’s worse elsewhere ? " We aren’t going to cover our face, it occurs in all events, besides that elsewhere it could be tougher to say. Possibly at EELV, we really feel extra professional to talk, higher supported, it was my case, specifically by my employer. We all know that buildings have been put in place, even when they will nonetheless be improved, and that there are useful resource folks to show to, people who find themselves really devoted to the reason for girls. ", says Emma.

" Once you don't cease abusers, you lose sensible girls whenever you want them "

For a lot of activists, a celebration that proclaims itself a feminist have to be much more exemplary than one other. And its executives are nicely conscious of this. " Our precedence is to prepare a motion the place girls really feel protected to tackle all of the roles they should take. We would like the abilities of tomorrow to emerge ", insists Julien Bayou. However the website is all of the extra colossal as it’s societal and extends far past the political spectrum. " The answer isn’t straightforward, as a result of male deconstruction doesn’t exist and the place of ladies continues to scare ", continues Sandra Regol.

All the things stays to be executed, says Rosalie Salaün:

Once I began engaged on these points, I spotted that we had been hardly attacking the mountain. We nonetheless have lots of work to do. It’s painful to noticeably battle towards sexual violence, as a result of it pertains to the intimacy, to the violence that we might have suffered but in addition that we might have dedicated. It’s additionally very tough to just accept that we’ve been complicit in unspeakable issues. "

Nonetheless, she considers this work crucial to be able to enable the emergence of a brand new era of feminine environmental politicians. " Once you don't cease abusers, you lose sensible girls whenever you want them. I’ve a number of testimonies from extraordinary girls who’ve suffered sexual violence of their activism, who don’t need to file a grievance and at the moment are afraid to marketing campaign as a result of they might meet their attacker. It is a big mess. It isn’t regular that girls's activism is conditioned on their means to deal with males's violence. That is what I’m preventing towards. "

STEPHANE POCRAIN, A Shining MAN OF TheSHADOW

Stéphane Pocrain in 2005.

He's a shadow man. A " spin physician " as some media name it. For greater than thirty years, Stéphane Pocrain, born in 1972, spawns throughout the Greens as a communications advisor for all social gathering executives, Yannick Jadot to Eva Joly through Cécile Duflot or David Cormand.

His ardour for politics started at a younger age, within the 90s on the scholar union ’A f, then at Génération écologie, which he left in 1993. He then joined Noël Mamère within the Convergence Écologie Solidarité social gathering, created in 1994, and have become his parliamentary collaborator when he was elected deputy.

In 1998, the primary hitch in his profession. After dropping the cantonal elections in Essonne, he didn’t report his marketing campaign. He was then declared ineligible for one yr. This didn’t forestall him from turning into a spokesperson for the Greens the identical yr. In 2002, Stéphane Pocrain was invested as a standard Greens-Socialist Celebration candidate for the legislative elections, nonetheless in Essonne. He failed towards the candidate UMP and did not report on marketing campaign on time. With out with the ability to be reimbursed, the social gathering misplaced 10,000 euros. Stéphane Pocrain was then given one other yr of ineligibility. It was across the similar time that he started a media profession, turning into a columnist for the Ruquier present " We tried every little thing " on France 2.

An aborted candidacy for the 2007 presidential election

Three years later, he returned to politics, like a " phoenix " squeak a posteriori a few of these detractors. In an interview given to Release, he declared himself " no much less professional than some other Inexperienced activist " to run for the presidential elections of 2006.

David Cormand.

Throughout the social gathering, few voices had been raised to recall previous errors. " Stéphane must work on his reliability, his respect for the foundations and his long-term dedication ", estimated on the time Marie-Christine Blandin, Senator of the Greens, in the identical article of Launch.

In 2006, he introduced his candidacy for the supreme workplace as deliberate on the web site of the Bondy Blog however rapidly withdrew, failing to have gathered the required 500 sponsorships. He didn’t succeed " to make their way through this extremely harsh countryside, with a very important right / left polarization ". He then supported Ségolène Royal, briefly becoming a member of the Socialist Celebration.

Conviction for home violence

In 2008 he was sentenced to two months in prison and three,000 euros in damages for home violence towards Anne-Charlotte Keller, his companion on the time. Through the trial, three different girls produced written statements referring to his violent conduct. " Stéphane may be distinctive, however within the non-public sector, he can’t grasp himself with girls. It have to be recognized ", Anne-Charlotte Keller mentioned on the listening to. Stéphane Pocrain, for his half, evoked a " complicated separation context ".

In 2011, the person returned to the political scene alongside Eva Joly, on the time the long run Greens candidate for the 2012 presidential election. The previous Justice of the Peace, recognized specifically for her work towards corruption, gave him her confidence regardless of his saucepans. Many social gathering members refused " the double penalty " and agreed to supply him a second likelihood. " We don't have to guage, even when we’re embarrassed in regards to the underbelly. However I sincerely really feel he has modified. If not, that will drive me loopy … And if there’s a scenario we didn't know that places Eva at risk, we received't have any moods ", Assured Sergio Coronado, spokesperson and director of communication for the candidate in a article of Mediapart. Solely the social gathering's feminist fee was outraged by her presence in an open letter calling – in useless – for her removing.

This didn’t forestall Stéphane Pocrain from persevering with his work as communication advisor to the candidate, with various levels of success. " He by no means succeeded in making Eva Joly a political animal ", slips an activist. It’s true that the previous Justice of the Peace had usually been mistreated by the media caste of the time.

In February 2012, in the midst of the electoral marketing campaign, a brand new court docket case broken his status. Discovered responsible of non-payment of alimony to his former accomplice, Anne-Charlotte Keller, for an quantity of 16,000 euros, he was sentenced for abandonment of family.

In 2014, he turned the spokesperson for the Consultant Council of Black Associations in France, whose creation he supported in 2005. After Eva Joly's marketing campaign and her presidential failure, he approached Cécile Duflot, with the 2017 marketing campaign in sight. " I'm right here to assist environmentalists put their concepts into phrases. I attempt to make their speech attain a wider viewers, whereas holding their "inexperienced credibility" ", he informed the Inrocks on the time. However Cécile Duflot – who didn’t reply to requests from Reporterre – didn’t win the nomination of his social gathering, forward of Yannick Jadot and Michèle Rivasi within the vote in October 2016.

His bills of mediatraining retocked

In 2019, Stéphane Pocrain signed up for the European marketing campaign. " I arrive in the course of the summer time days, in August 2018, with the conviction that there’s something to be executed for the European marketing campaign. I’m not a member of EELV. What I need is to know plate tectonics in society ", he explained to the newspaper The world.

On the time, the press and social gathering officers alike raved about him. A quite flattering portrait published in Release described it as " guru " Greens " independence theorist " and " adviser within the shadows ". A single small sentence rapidly evoked his home violence. " Eleven years after this episode, we put the topic on the desk. Not straightforward to get the talkative talker about his condemnation. " The second likelihood principle nonetheless held.

The very honorable results of the Greens within the Europeans (13.5 %) has come to consolidate its place on the coronary heart of the social gathering's our bodies. " I spotted a posteriori that the truth that he took the platform of the Federal Council with the European marketing campaign group, whose report had been warmly applauded, may very well be for him a manner of regaining a type of political recognition ", explains Rosalie Salaün, head of the feminism fee at EELV. After the elections, Stéphane Pocrain joined the group of latest MP David Cormand as native assistant on the finish of November 2019. A place he nonetheless held on the day of publication of this text, based on the Parliament website.

However just a few months later, a brand new monetary affair caught up with him. The Nationwide Fee for Marketing campaign Accounts and Political Financing (CNCCFP) retoched the shutter media coaching of its providers, deemed ineligible for reimbursement by the State. A sum of roughly 50,000 euros invoiced by the one Capital magazine nicknamed " luxury consultant ".

A thinker of in style ecology

This didn’t forestall Stéphane Pocrain from getting concerned within the municipal elections, advising the candidates, generally rereading their speeches. " I all the time inform them that the mayor's costume doesn’t exist. That the candidate should have his phrases, his program and that he can’t lie or disguise what he’s ", he explained to Release.

Whereas the Greens are sometimes seen as a celebration of white and well-off folks, Stéphane Pocrain, performs the cardboard to the fullest.popular ecology, as in this article printed in February 2020 in Launch. " What’s lacking is for a political era from the neighborhoods to say itself totally on these points. I don't imagine in an import ecology. We’d like an endogenous ecology, which begins from the problems skilled every day – housing, junk meals, isolation – however issues are transferring ahead. " Conversant in little phrases that enchantment to the media, he even goes as far as to recommend that " the subsequent Greta Thunberg, she might reside in Montfermeil ".

A last article accomplished his picture of " thinker " in style ecology. It is a lengthy interview printed on Could 27 within the media outlet Le vent se leve through which Stéphane Pocrain particulars this idea and discusses the long run political views of ’EELV. David Cormand, her boss within the European Parliament, relayed this interview on Twitter, describing her as " luminous ".

Tweet from David Cormand, now deleted.

This message ignited the social community: many Web customers, usually activists or these near the social gathering, had been indignant on the place given to a person discovered responsible of home violence, with out even realizing the brand new accusations made towards him. " However I believed he had modified as a result of he had been actually given a second likelihood. I discover that the social gathering isn’t transferring quick sufficient on these problems with violence towards girls. Pocrain is so nicely built-in that he feels untouchable. These sorts of personalities needs to be higher watched ", Clarify Alex, a militant EELV of Rhône-Alpes.

Others are talking with their faces uncovered, resembling Amandine Richaud Crambes, parliamentary assistant to MEP Damien Carême. On June three, 2020, she tweeted: " However you aren’t ashamed ! And there it’s not possible to say that you simply didn’t know. Be taught out of your errors and the victims of Baupin or Hulot. Cease placing these guys on a pedestal ! "

Privately and anonymously, a lady who not too long ago labored as a celebration communicator is disgusted by this media protection:

Saying that he has paid his debt to society doesn’t remedy the violence. If he doesn’t heal this violence, he’ll proceed to hit girls. There’s a actual denial of the magnitude of the issue. Confronting him nose to nose, in a celebration or elsewhere, is to start to demand that these males handle themselves and be accompanied. "

Within the face of emotion, David Cormand – who didn’t reply our questions – deleted his tweet. The article in The Wind Rises was unpublished just a few days later attributable to " severe issues raised on the social community ". He’s all the time available here.