Three workers given suspended sentences and two others acquitted over violence during protest over proposed job cuts

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Three Air France workers have been given suspended sentences for “organised violence” after being found guilty of an attack on two airline executives whose shirts were ripped off their backs in a protest over proposed job cuts.

Pictures of angry workers chasing their bosses, forcing one to scramble shirtless over a wire fence outside the company headquarters, went around the world in October last year.

The Air France protesters were desperate, frightened people, not a violent mob | Philippe Marlière Read more

Air France eventually dropped the restructuring plan, which would have cost 2,900 jobs, but the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, described the attackers as “rogues” and called for them to be given severe sentences. Valls said the scenes damaged France’s image.

Two other workers who faced the same charge were acquitted. Ten other former and current employees from the company were fined €500 for damaging the company’s property after they broke down a gate at the airline’s headquarters. The protests were led by the CGT, a French trade union confederation.

Wednesday’s judgment followed a full trial in September. Pierre Plissonnier, director of long-haul operations at the airline, told the hearing he had felt humiliation after seeing pictures of himself with his clothing ripped to shreds.

The court was shown film footage in which one worker could be heard threatening Xavier Broseta, a human resources boss, before his shirt was ripped off.

The image that dominated media coverage showed Broseta, bare chested with his shirt in threads, trying to scale a fence to escape after being chased out of a meeting at the airline.

The defence lawyer Lilia Mhissen said during the court hearing two months ago that she hoped the accused would “not be judged on the basis of video clips that last a fraction of a second” but on the bigger picture.

At least two of them had “clearly acted to protect Mr Broseta and Mr Plissonnier”, she said. “If they had got all of the video images … the story would have been different.”

Air France, which employs 55,000 people, scrapped the restructuring plan but still faces tensions with pilots and flight crews, who staged strikes in late July.

Air France-KLM returned to profit last year after seven years of losses but faces stiff competition from Asian and Gulf airlines as well as new low-cost, long-haul alternatives.

The airline has seen drop in bookings by Japanese, Chinese and American clients as a result of the wave of terrorist attacks in France since January 2015.