Sixteen Air France workers are trial for their alleged role in chaotic scenes last year, when two executives from the struggling airline had their shirts torn off outside a company meeting, reports The Guardian.
The “case of the ripped shirts” made headlines last autumn when the airline’s human resources chief, Xavier Broseta, was pursued half-naked by staff after a work council meeting about job cuts.
He first tried to flee a crowd of workers in a committee room at the airline’s headquarters near Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris. His shirt was ripped to pieces as he struggled through a crowd outside the building, and then, naked from the waist up with only a tie hanging round his neck, he scaled an outside fence to escape.
Another executive, Pierre Plissonnier, in charge of the long-haul flight division, also had his shirt and jacket ripped after he came to the aid of other executives.
The protests took place last October as the airline’s management unveiled a plan to cut 2,900 jobs.
Five men will stand trial on Friday accused of violence towards the executives as well as a security guard and bodyguards. Four of the accused work for the airline’s cargo arm, the other is an employee of Air France industries. The five accused risk up to three years in prison and a €45,000 (£34,000) fine. Investigative website Mediapart said defence lawyers deny the charges.
Eleven others are on trial for criminal damage for forcing open metal barriers outside the building.