Trial of the thirty

The Trial of the Thirty (French: Procès des trente) was a trial in 1894 in Paris, France, aimed at legitimizing the lois scélérates passed in 1893–94 against the anarchist movement and restricting press freedom by proving the existence of an effective association between anarchists.

Lasting from 6 August-31 October in 1894, it put on trial 30 French and foreign alleged anarchists, on a charge of "criminal association" (association de malfaiteurs). Held in virtue of the lois scélérates censoring the press and outlawing apologies for propaganda by the deed, the trial mixed anarchist theorists with common law criminals.

Among the defendants were Charles Chatel, Ivan Aguéli, Sébastien Faure, Félix Fénéon, Jean Grave, Louis Armand Matha, Maximilien Luce, Émile Pouget, Paul Reclus, Alexander Cohen, Constant Martin, Louis Duprat.

During the first months of 1894, the police organized searches, raids and detentions against the anarchist movement. The government aimed at annihilating the anarchist movement, and used for this the lois scélérates of December 1893 and July 1894, enacted after Auguste Vaillant's bombing. On 21 February 1894, Le Père Peinard, published by Émile Pouget, ceased being edited, and was followed on 10 March 1894 by Jean Grave's Le Révolté. From 1 January 1894 to 30 June 1894, 426 people, among which 29 could not be detained, were judged on charges of having constituted a "criminal association". According to the historian Jean Maitron, most activists had been either arrested or had fled the country, and all propaganda had practically ceased.

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