The President of the Tribunal has postponed his judgment to October 31 at 3 p.m. It is worth recalling that the Russian Federation is seeking the expulsion of ACOR (Russian Orthodox Cultural Association) from its place of worship, the Russian Church of Nice, through legal proceedings.
The lawyers pleaded in front of a courtroom once again packed to the brim (many people remained standing), with very technical interventions on procedural aspects (raised incompetence proceedings) and on the legal merits.
Towards the end of the hearing, the lawyer for the Russian Federation caused a sensation by announcing that at the very moment of the pleadings, the St. Nicholas Cathedral was the subject of a visit by a municipal safety commission to assess an imminent danger to this historic building!!
This dramatic twist fueled comments and questions in the corridors of the courthouse:
Hervé CAEL, member of the ACOR support committee: “Coincidence of the calendar or symbolic gesture by the City Hall, which had nevertheless supported ACOR for many years?
Explanation for the puzzling absence of elected officials who a few months earlier were competing for the spotlight in front of press photographers (it must be said we were then in a pre-election period!!)?
Reality of a potential “danger” for the parishioners and visitors of a building that was subject to a municipal safety commission visit on June 24, which had made no observation in this regard?
To be continued…
