The Minister of Transport Clément Beaune had warned: “there cannot be a ZAD and there will be no ZAD on the A69.” While he was the guest of “Political Questions” (France inter, France TV, Le Monde), at midday this Sunday, October 22, the police intervened to dislodge opponents of the construction site. A69 motorway in the locality of Crémade, east of Castres, where they were organized into a zone to defend (ZAD).
Several dozen mobile gendarmes in riot gear began shortly before 1 p.m. to surround a group of expropriated houses near the route of the future highway, invested the day before at the end of the afternoon by around a hundred activists to create a ZAD , like what had been organized against the Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project near Nantes.
Anti-riot force and armored vehicles
“I do not want a country where we have zero infrastructure, zero projects and where, even with valid arguments, a minority would impose its law on elected officials and the elected majority,” insisted Clément Beaune in the morning, indicating having launched an unprecedented review of motorway projects, some of which “will continue and others will be abandoned”, and of which he will give the result in a few weeks. And continued: “The ZAD is not a festive and friendly element, it is a violation of the basic rules of property and public space, so no!”, he said, reproaching the opponents of this project the presence in Saturday’s demonstration of “2,500 radical, hooded, violent elements”.
On site, the mobile gendarmes chased the demonstrators from the group of houses occupied since late Saturday afternoon where they had begun to barricade themselves with concrete blocks, stones, old tires, tree trunks and planned to hold an assembly general at 1 p.m., noted AFP. Anti-riot forces also used tear gas to disperse demonstrators in a meadow adjacent to the group of houses. Two armored vehicles, which came to support the police, faced the demonstrators, who chanted “No macadam, no macadam”, and some of whom threw projectiles.
After the intervention of the police to evacuate the ZAD de la Crémade, the organizers of the day before’s demonstration against the A69 communicated a report of around thirty injuries “a priori light”, but some of whom require medical attention. be hospitalized. Four gendarmes and two CRS were also slightly injured.