The prefecture denied that the intersyndicale was deliberately targeted by a water cannon.
The heads of the main unions in Ille-et-Vilaine complained on Friday during a meeting at the prefecture of having been targeted by a water cannon during the demonstration organized the day before in Rennes, denouncing “gestures of intimidation” of the police.
The prefecture denied that the inter-union was deliberately targeted.
Thursday, when the official procession arrived at Place de la République in Rennes and clashes had already broken out upstream between demonstrators and the police, “the inter-union, although clearly identified, was gassed and targeted by the water cannon”, said the departmental secretary of Force Ouvrière (FO), Fabrice Lerestif, on leaving the prefecture.
“The service of order and the general secretaries targeted”
“We had chasubles, badges, it was marked ‘security’ (…) And clearly, it was the service of order and the secretaries general who were targeted”, told his counterpart of the CGT of Ille-et-Vilaine, Dominique Besson-Milord.
“They arrived at the Place de la République at the time when an operation was in progress, summonses had been made because there had been attacks and the throwing of projectiles”, explained to the chief of staff of the prefect, Elise Dabouis.
“They found themselves in the middle of the operation but of course, there was never the will to target them”, assured Elise Dabouis, for whom the activists and peaceful demonstrators “find themselves collateral victims of the violence of the thugs “.
Fabrice Lerestif also deplored the refusal of the prefectural authorities to authorize the union order service to wear goggles against tear gas, equipment which was prohibited by a prefectural decree on Thursday. “It is a desire to intimidate, to scare and be able to say that the demonstrations are going badly,” protested Fabrice Lerestif.
The unions dissociate themselves from the actions of the black blocs
For Elise Dabouis, the ban is justified by the fact that “the black blocks equip themselves to protect themselves from the replicas of the police when they commit abuses, with helmets, swimming goggles, masks, etc.”
Asked about these multiple degradations and stone throwing committed by small radicalized groups on the sidelines of the procession, Fabrice Lerestif “dissociated himself from this violence, as always. But (the police) know very well how to distinguish between a trade union procession of tens of thousands of people and the others,” he said.
“We are trying to secure the procession but we do not have the right or the ability to maintain order. I would also point out that a certain number of these violent processions are also attacking us, with threats, pressure, even death threats … they are not our friends”, insists the head of FO.
“We don’t want to give in, neither to them nor to the state. The solution is to withdraw the reform,” he concludes.
Similar incidents in Nantes last week
In Nantes too, the unions deplored similar incidents after the March 18 demonstration. According to them, the police had issued a summons for “prohibited assembly” while the head of the union procession had not yet reached the place planned for the dislocation of the demonstration.
“Several tear gas shots followed directly on the union procession” causing “falls, including that of the departmental secretary of the UNSA who was injured”, they wrote in a press release.
