Séverine's interview

Séverine during her hunger strike, in front of the courthouse

THE INQUISITION IS EXHUMED IN NICE, FRANCE ?

Guénady July 08, 2009

Three weeks after her release from internment in Nice's psychiatric hosptial, despite being exhausted from this ordeal and despite her anguish over the on-going forced separation from her two-year-old son, Elie, Séverine Gérard spent a few minutes with me to set the record straight for public opinion.

GUENADY : Séverine, tell us what happened to you here, in Nice, and how you got to be in this situation...

SEVERINE : Well, I left Belgium about three years ago, and came to Nice because I was told it was a wonderul place to live... I had finished university, where I studied psychology, and I had spent a year working in that field. But I wanted to find a freer society to live in. So, I came to Nice and made it my base, from which I went traveling, as part of my search to find a new permanent place to live.

GUENADY : So, Nice for you was not going to be a permanent home?

SEVERINE : No. It is beautiful here, but I found it quite repressive. And the French... Well, I made good friends here; but I find the French strangely submissive. We are much more independent in Belgium. We are not afraid to stand up to authority, when it is wrong, and to defend our rights.

GUENADY : As an American citizen, I have also made the observation that the French are conditioned into an attitude of submission to authority, and I also find it amazing. It comes, I think, from linguistic isolation. And the fact that the lower classes in France are raised to give too much consideration to 'experts', as part of their submission to authority. After all, they have been taught, who are they to know anything, if they haven't had an upper class education? So they keep quiet, and they accept. But tell us, Severine, what happened to you and Elie here?

SEVERINE : Well, we travelled a lot. The last trip was to India, last summer. We returned in September.

GUENADY : So, excuse me for asking, Séverine, but this is part of the accusations against you, you do have sufficient funds to cover your own needs and those of your son?

SEVERINE : Of course! We are not homeless or destitute, as it has sometimes been made out in the press. In the last three years, Elie and I have travelled far and wide, but we have always returned to Nice between our trips, because I have made good friends here... Until I know where I want to settle down permanently, I like to come back here. At least, up to now... But now, staying in Nice is no longer possible. The authorities here have behaved too badly... How could I ever trust them again?

GUENADY : Séverine, after your return from India, your plan was to spend the winter in Nice?

SEVERINE : Yes.

GUENADY : And up until the month of March, you lived here quietly and without incident?

SEVERINE : Yes.

GUENADY : And then, what happened?

SEVERINE : I often went to the meals the Salvation Army prepares here... You can meet very interesting people at soup kitchens, you know. In Belgium, it is common for intellectuals to meet in such places. Of course, Eli and I didn't really eat there, we just took a little fruit, and talked with the people...

GUENADY : And what happened to you at the Salvation Army?

SEVERINE : On the 23rd of March, two officers from the 'Police Nationale' came and took Elie away from me, by force. I was denounced by The Red Cross, believe it or not, and Ele was placed in a foster home. The next day, I contacted the Judge. First, I was told that he was not aware of my case, then I was told that a hearing had been set for April 1st. At this hearing, the main suspicion against me was that I was risking my son's health by feeding him a vegan diet.

GUENADY : And was there any other point that the authorities reproached you for?

SEVERINE : Yes, they did not like the fact that I did not have permanent lodgings in Nice.

GUENADY : But this was not the main issue?

SEVERINE : No. The main charge against me was that I was endangering Eli's health by not feeding him meat. As I was told this in advance, I had our doctor in Belgium, who did periodic examinations of Elie, send a letter saying that my son was in good health, and that the vegan diet I was feeding him, along with still breastfeeding him, was perfectly adequate to his nutritional needs.

GUENADY : And the Court had this document in its possession before the hearing?

SEVERINE : Yes. I had taken a lawyer who submitted it to the Judge. But on the day of the hearing, this lawyer told me he didn't want to represent me anymore! So I had to go into the hearing alone.

GUENADY : Why didn't this lawyer want to represent you? Did he give you a reason?

SEVERINE : Not then, but later, when I was doing my hunger strike in front of the Courthouse, I saw him going into the Courthouse, and I asked him... He told me that he didn't want to discredit himself by being associated with me! Obviously, he knew in advance what was going to happen, and he knew that he couldn't do anything to stop it, so he didn't want to be involved!

GUENADY : This reminds me of the lady who runs France's only vegan restaurant, also here in Nice. She had a courtcase, too, and she felt that everything was decided in advance, and against her... Possibly also because she is vegan. Anyway, on the first of April you went into the hearing with the Judge alone, unrepresented, and what happened?

SEVERINE : Well, the Judge had ordered an examination of Elie and he had the results of that. Everything was fine, there was no problem with any of the readings. And the Judge had the letter from Eli's doctor in Belgium, too. But there was another doctor present at the hearing, a pediatrician whom the Judge questioned and who said that it was impossible for a baby to be in good health on a vegan diet...

GUENADY : In other words, this French doctor testified against the testimony of your Belgian doctor and against the evidence of Eli's court-ordered examination?

SEVERINE : Yes. The French doctor was very specific. She said that a vegan diet results in micro-lesions on the brain, invisible to the naked eye, but which show up later, in adulthood.

GUENADY : Convenient! Did she offer any proof of this assertion?

SEVERINE : She said that the need to eat meat in order to meet human nutritional needs is a proposition supported by world-wide scientific consensus! Clearly, the Judge brought this doctor in to say these things, so as to justify the decision he had already made.

GUENADY : Which was?

SEVERINE : He ordered blood tests. And he also ordered Elie to stay with the foster family. I was allowed to visit only two times, one hour each tlme, then my visiting rights were stopped, because they said I was not facilitating the separation.

GUENADY : What do you say to that?

SEVERINE : Every time I saw my baby, he cried when the visit was over! He didn't want to leave me, and I didn't want to leave him either! But foster familes is a business-- a big business. The City gets four to five thousand euros a month from the State so as to take care of each child, and the foster family gets a thousand. They're earning money off of this!

GUENADY : What were you doing to get him back?

SEVERINE : I don't know if you can imagine. It's a nightmare! I didn't know what to do. My friends didn't know what to do either. I was so upset that I hadn't eaten anything since the day Elie was taken. So, I went on a total hunger strike in front of the Courthouse, asking people to sign the petition my friends had prepared, to support my demand that my son be returned to me! I don't even know if I will still be able to breastfeed him now, after so long...

GUENADY : Courage, Severine! Then, someone found out where Elie was and told you?

SEVERINE : Yes... I bought a pistol. Not a real pistol, but not a toy either. I thought that if I had to I could use it for intimidation, to protect myself. And I went to Antibes, where Eli was, trying to find him.

GUENADY : And you did find him?

SEVERINE : Yes. He was in the street, coming back from the park, with the foster family, and a couple that must have been friends of theirs. The minute they saw me, the man came at me, and his friend came with him. He seized my hands and shook me. He said, 'Get away! You're a danger to the child!' The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, with these two men over me, pinning me down. That's when I took out the pistol. All I could think of was, I can't leave Elie with people like this!

GUENADY : And they called the police?

SEVERINE : Yes. The police came and took me away to the station. They were sympathetic, but finally a psychiatrist came to see me. He told me that he understood my feelings and why I had tried to take Elie back. He seemed sympathetic to me. He said everything was going to be all right, and that I would be released, but then he signed the order to intern me in the psychiatric ward of the Antibes general hospital! It's incredible! After that, I was transferred to the Nice psychiatric hospital. I spent a week there, then I decided to leave.

GUENADY : So, you left.

SEVERINE : Yes. I climbed over the fencing. Then, I went back to Nice and I was trying to figure out what to do to get Elie back. After about a week, I was out walking when I ran into the Judge on the street. Stupidly, I even smiled at him! He slinked off and apparently called the police, because the next thing I knew they were there. And they took me back to the asylum where I spent another three weeks. The first days, I had forced injections of zeprexa, to keep me quiet. I was even tied down to the bed, when I got angry that they wouldn't let me call my lawyer. It's like something out of the Middle Ages!

GUENADY : How did you finally get out of the asylum?

SEVERINE : Well, during that time when I was doing my hunger strike in front of the courthouse, someone told a French lady lawyer about my case. She came several times to see me and to expression her sympathy with my situation, and she became my lawyer. Of course, I paid her, and a hefty sum, but she got me released from the asylum. All that enormous amount of money was the price of my freedom.

GUENADY : And now this lawyer is going to help you get Elie back?

SEVERINE : Yes. But it's all so slow! I've asked the Belgium Consulate in Nice to intervene to speed things up, but they say they can't do anything. Once Elie is free, we will be repatriated to Belgium, but they say they can't help me to get him liberated from Nice Justice. I even spoke to a judge in Belgium, and she said the same thing. The French Judge won't listen to her, so it's not even worth trying to talk to him to get the hearing speeded up.

GUENADY : For when has the next hearing been set?

SEVERINE : For July 15.

GUENADY : But that's only a few days away.

SEVERINE : But do you realize? I can't wait that long! This is all taking too much time! I want my baby back now!

GUENADY : If your lawyer says you can't do anything before the hearing, then I'm afraid you will just have to be patient.

SEVERINE : This is a nightmare! I want my baby back! Why should I have to wait another week? And even then, what do I do if the Judge doesn't release Elie? How can all this be happening in a country that is supposed to have originated the idea of Human Rights? Why are MY human rights denied? And with such phoney so-called justification?

GUENADY : We would all like answers to these same questions, Séverine!