- The demonstration organized on November 16 in the Place d'Italie for the anniversary of the movement of "yellow vests" was banned after its official start.
- A complaint was lodged Thursday against the prefect Lallement in particular for “endangering of others” and “attack on the individual freedom by a person depositary of the public authority”.
- The prefect of police believes that his strategy has prevented the spread of violence, the "yellow vests", on the contrary, claim that it fanned them.
Did the Paris prefect of police Didier Lallement set fire to the powder? Or rather engendered, by his choices in matters of policing, a climate of tension conducive to the emergence of violence during the demonstration organized for the first anniversary of the "yellow vests" last November in the Place d'Italie ? In any case, this is supported by two figures in the movement, Priscillia Ludosky and Faouzi Lellouche, who lodged a complaint on Thursday against the senior official, in particular for "endangering others" and "attacking individual liberty by person responsible for public authority ”. "We witnessed that day, a sad summary of methods of maintaining order by the police headquarters," lamented the young woman during a press conference organized by the Paris Observatory of Civil Liberties.
Saturday, November 16, 2019, the anniversary event, duly declared, must take place in two stages: a gathering at 10 a.m. on the Place d'Italie then the departure of the procession, at 2 p.m., towards the 10th arrondissement. But at the end of the morning, the first degradations were noted, a fire broke out in the center of the square, the firefighters struggled to access it. According to the complainants, this violence was favored by the absence of an adequate police force. "We quickly saw a strategy of tension", supports during this same press conference, Capucine Blouet, one of the eleven volunteers from the Parisian Observatory of Public Liberties present that day to analyze the progress of the event. She particularly deplores the absence of police officers specialized in maintaining order and the "multiple provocations" of certain officials towards the demonstrators. "Some were targeting us with their LBDs without shooting," she reports.
An event prohibited after his departure
Around 1 p.m., when Priscillia Ludosky tries to access the Place d'Italie, all axes are blocked while the demonstration is supposed to start an hour later. Faouzi Lellouche is already there, but is struggling to obtain information. This figure of "yellow vests" explains having received a first phone call at 1.17pm telling him that the "demonstration would apparently be prohibited", before having confirmation at 2:27 pm, half an hour after the theoretical departure time . At 3 p.m., the prefect Lallement confirms during a press point that the demonstration is effectively prohibited because of the "risks of violence" and "fixed" on the Place d'Italie ... but does not take any order in this sense. Has this strategy made it possible to contain the violence as the prefecture claims or on the contrary to stir it up as the "yellow vests" maintain?
Throughout the afternoon, several hundred demonstrators were buried in the square while violent clashes between black blocks and police in the same place. If the prefecture indicates that exit corridors were opened for the demonstrators, many testimonies affirm the opposite. "The establishment of this trap, totally contrary to the freedom to come and go [...], promotes the rise of tensions between the people gathered and the police, creating confusion within the demonstrators and by causing movements of crowd and panic, affirm the complainants. That day, Manuel, a "yellow vest" from Valenciennes, will be blown away by a tear gas canister while chatting with friends while waiting to be able to leave the premises. Judicial information was opened by the Paris public prosecutor's office for "willful violence by a person responsible for public authority followed by mutilation or permanent infirmity".
The doctrine of policing in question
"There is a necessary debate to have on the methods deployed by Didier Lallement to maintain order, insists Me Guillaume Martine, the lawyer of the two" yellow vests ". A demonstration is prohibited but no order is made to do so officially, demonstrators are prohibited from demonstrating but they are prevented from leaving. "
If the complaint is focused on this event, the debate is much broader and relates to the doctrine of policing currently implemented in Paris and regularly criticized. "If the investigation concludes that it is an offense to muddle people in a place for hours, the methods will have to be changed", insists the council.
Justice
"Yellow vests" in Paris: "I cracked" ... A protester sentenced to a firm year for degrading the statue of Marshal June
Society
Police police report: A year 2019 marked by demonstrations of "yellow vests"
- Society
- Prefect
- Yellow vests
- Police violence
- Paris