After the violent clashes which erupted during the mobilization against the construction of basins in Sainte-Soline, magistrates and lawyers point the finger at the abuses of the maintenance of order against the demonstrators.
Triggered by environmental concerns, the mobilization against the “mega-basins” project in Sainte-Soline was marked by clashes with the police, to the point of leading to new virulent criticism against those in charge of the preserve the order. Since the violent clashes of March 25, the organizers of the rally have counted up to 200 demonstrators injured, including at least 40 seriously, while the Niort prosecutor’s office reports 47 gendarmes hit and seven demonstrators rescued.
Scenes of chaos which push the deputies of La France insoumise to point the finger at the brutality of the police towards the demonstrators, while the Minister of the Interior targets “an unheard of surge of violence” from certain protesters .
“Weapons of War”
On all sides, the case of Sainte-Soline therefore arouses strong reactions, even in the legal professions. This Tuesday, the union of lawyers of France and the union of the judiciary unite to denounce in a press release “the disproportionate deployment of the police (…) not simply aimed at securing a demonstration but at the repress”.
“There is no longer any doubt now: the management of law enforcement in France kills, maims and seriously injures hundreds of demonstrators”, alarm the trade unions.
“Tear gas grenades, stun grenades, explosive grenades, LBD shots”: lawyers and magistrates accuse the police of the use of “weapons of war” against demonstrators moved by their environmental commitment.
“Amalgam between protester and delinquent”
But Gérald Damarnin recalled this Tuesday, during questions to the government in the National Assembly, that “small groups” of “extreme violence” and “files by the intelligence services” were present on Saturday in Sainte-Soline. Their actions are, according to the Minister of the Interior, at the origin of the violent clashes with the gendarmes.
One of the injured demonstrators has also been listed as S since 2010 for belonging to the ultra-left, radical and violent movement. In question, his participation in numerous demonstrations, such as in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, and in particular alongside the black blocks, learned BFMTV from a police source.
“The Minister of the Interior denounces the radicalism of the participants in order to justify the violence on the part of the police and promote generalized impunity (…) once again confusing protesters and delinquents” , reprimand the unions.
Hearing of the Minister of the Interior
As such, lawyers and magistrates are calling for the opening of a commission of inquiry “to shed light on these events”. An expectation which should be filled by the announcement, this Tuesday in the National Assembly, of the next hearing of Gérald Darmanin on the “management of the maintenance of order”.
The law commission will then study “the admissibility of the petition on the dissolution of the BRAV-M in the coming weeks”, the chairman of the law commission, Sacha Houlié, told AFP. Created in the spring of 2019 during the yellow vests movement, the BRAV-M are police units circulating on motorcycles to maintain order during demonstrations, being more mobile than CRS companies or mobile gendarmes. Their mission is to go into contact with the thugs to stop the damage and challenge them.
During a day of mobilization against the pension reform, this brigade was again decried for its methods of muscular intervention. In an audio recording released by The world and Loopsider, BRAV-M police officers threaten and intimidate young demonstrators arrested and suspected of having participated in degradations.
