The demonstration on Saturday in Paris by several hundred ultra-right activists, which had not been banned, aroused strong criticism on the left on Monday May 8 and a shower of criticism, leading the police headquarters to justify themselves in a press release.
This Saturday, nearly 600 activists from the May 9 committee, according to the authorities, demonstrated in Paris to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the death of a far-right activist, Sébastien Deyzieu, who died accidentally in 1994. These demonstrators, dressed in black and often masked, exhibited black flags marked with the Celtic cross and chanted, at the end of the rally, “ europe youth revolution », the slogan of the GUD (Groupe d’union Défense), a far-right French student organization renowned for its violent actions and very active in the 1970s. According to information from Mediaparttwo former treasurers of Marine Le Pen were present at the event.
Monday, on Twitter, the socialist senator from Paris David Assouline notably challenged the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, considering ” inadmissible to have let 500 neo-Nazis and fascists parade through the heart of Paris “. “ Explain yourself ! “, he summoned in his tweet. Also on Twitter, PCF spokesperson Ian Brossat, elected from Paris, for his part was ironic in the middle of the day, writing: “ pots and pans are obviously more dangerous than the sound of boots… »
The demonstration has been the subject of much criticism on the left while since the adoption of the controversial law on pensions, bans on demonstrations have multiplied in France to avoid “casserolades” against President Emmanuel Macron and members of the government. The Paris police headquarters (PP) justified in a long statement the non-prohibition of ultra-right demonstrations.
The Paris police headquarters pointed out that ” insofar as this demonstration had not caused, in previous years, any overflow or disturbance to public order, the prefect of police was not justified in issuing a prohibition order against it “.
“ No risk to public order »
She also argued that in January, the prefect of police’s order prohibiting a torchlight march by “Paris Pride” (a well-known far-right association), had “ been suspended by the judge. The administrative court had estimated, noted the Paris police headquarters, that ” the alleged history of disturbances on the sidelines of rallies organized by this same collective in previous years did not in themselves establish a risk of disturbance to public order sufficient to justify the ban on demonstrations “.
“ The demonstration of May 6 was the subject of a framework adapted by the police, to avoid any risk of overflows or confrontations “, added the police headquarters, which had issued an order authorizing the recording of images by drone. She promised that “ any criminal act noted during this event or that the subsequent use of the images would make it possible to identify, will[it] the subject of a report to the judicial authority. “.
On BFMTV, the prefect of police Laurent Nuñez announced that he had “ seized without waiting for the Paris prosecutor ” on the fact ” that individuals, most of them, showed their faces concealed which is an offence. “ The legal conditions were not met to ban this demonstration. I take it completely “, he insisted.
The prefect was annoyed that some could accuse him of being “ more tolerant with the extreme right than with the extreme left “. ” This is completely false and absolutely unacceptable to me. “, said Laurent Nuñez, recalling his past action at the General Directorate of Internal Security and then as coordinator of the fight against terrorism.
He pointed out that a ” dozen files concerning the ultra-right were currently being processed by the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT).
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(With AFP)