" Apple takes French tax activists to court ", 4 Jan 2018

Apple has filed a lawsuit against the Attac activist group after about 100 of its supporters occupied the tech giant's flagship store in Paris last month, protesting alleged "wide-scale tax evasion" by the firm.

An Apple spokesman [said] that while it respected the group's right to expression, its recent actions had "put the security of our customers and employees at risk."

It is seeking 3,000 euros ($3,600) from Attac, or the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Aid to Citizens, and a court order barring the group from staging further protests in its stores, for which they would face a penalty of 150,000 euros.

...Attac staged a sit-in at Apple's grandiose Opera store on December 2, demanding [that Apple] pay billions of euros the EU says it owes in back taxes.

They blocked the store for several hours...leaving only after they were assured of a meeting with management. The company said it had met with representatives on December 18 and asked them to refrain from further actions because of security concerns.

But...a spokesman for Attac France, said the lawsuit was "an attempt to gag Attac and prevent us from holding new citizen actions to condemn tax evasion by multinationals". He added that Apple had accused Attac of "vandalism", though he said the group's actions "are symbolic, nonviolent, staged openly and with no material damage".

...Apple has said it follows the law in each country it operates.