The government wants to increase criminal penalties for attacks against elected officials, which will be considered as serious as attacks against police officers. This was declared on Wednesday May 17 by the Minister of Territorial Communities, Dominique Faure.
” We obviously need to stop this infernal spiral of violence against elected officials in our Republic. This is absolutely unacceptable “Said Dominique Faure at Matignon where she had just participated in a meeting with Elisabeth Borne and the resigning mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique). There resignation of Yannick Morezthreatened by the far right and victim of arson, has cast a harsh light on violence against elected officials, which continued to increase in 2023, after a 32% increase in 2022, according to the Ministry of Interior.
By aligning the penalties for attacks on elected officials with those for attacks on uniformed personnel (police, gendarmes, firefighters), these penalties will go up to seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros (for more than eight days of total incapacity for work), instead of three years and a fine of 75,000 euros. These measures, which had been censored by the Constitutional Council in the law on internal security (Lopmi), will be integrated into the draft law on justice, said the minister.
The creation of a network of “affected referents”
The government also plans to create a network of more than 3,400 ” referents attacks on elected officials in police stations and gendarmeries. ” These referents will be the gateways for elected officials to free speech “, specified the entourage of the minister, explaining that ” many mayors do not dare to talk about the violence they are subjected to “. The device “ elected alarm ” will also be strengthened: it allows elected officials to register in a file which triggers, in the event of a call to the police, “ an even faster intervention of the security forces “, and which allows patrols near his home and the town hall.
The Minister also officially launched the ” center for the analysis and fight against attacks on elected officials “, announced in March, which will pilot these security measures and further analyze the phenomenon. It will also allow for better coordination at the national level. all security forces and state services “. Risk assessment will also be systematic each time a threat against an elected official appears, and a ” move towards will allow elected officials to file a complaint at their home or at the town hall.
► To read also: Violence against elected officials: “We demand the establishment of a national observatory”
(With AFP)