One year after the violent death of the mayor of Signes, the mayors can no longer bear the attacks they continue to suffer. Young campers who attack an elected official, another struck by revelers: the elected officials want to make known their dissatisfaction with the lack of support from Justice.
A simple reminder of the law for blows
"If we are not helped by the justice system, there is no point in getting up in the morning to make sure that communal life goes well," said Francis D'Hulst, elected representative of Portbail in La Manche, victim of an assault last Thursday. Aged 70, he had informed three campers that a municipal decree prohibited them from setting up their tents in the beach parking lot. He had also alerted them to the dangers of making a fire near a pine forest. One of the individuals insulted him first, then threatened to set his car on fire, before hitting him in the neck and back.
"But it was the blow struck the next day by the prosecution that hurt me the most," commented the mayor, who had lodged a complaint. His attacker only received a reminder of the law.
For Agnès Le Brun, vice-president and spokesperson for the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), this case shows how lonely mayors are faced with “criminal acts”. "We regret that the criminal response is not there," she said, regretting that the perpetrators do not answer more quickly for their acts in court. “This year, 233 elected officials have already suffered an act of violence” against 383 over the whole of last year and 361 in 2018.
The mayor, symbol of the state
Last week, another mayor, Philippe Becheau, was also struck in Saint-Philippe d'Aiguille, a town of some 400 inhabitants in Gironde, during an intervention against the noise at night. Faced with this kind of situation, "we ask that a penal response be immediately brought and that it be proportionate", affirmed the spokesperson of the AMF. "We must not forget that the mayor represents the State in his municipality".
Senator LR from La Manche, Philippe Bas wrote to Prime Minister Jean Castex to ask him to go further so that “any form of violence against mayors is punished in a rapid and proportionate manner”. According to him, it is essential that "functional protection is systematically granted to elected officials who are victims of violence, threats or insults, without the need for prior deliberation by the municipal council". In other words, "the State must automatically cover legal costs," explained the AMF.
This morning I telephoned the mayor of Saint-Philippe d'Aiguille, assaulted last night, while he was simply doing his duty.
These facts and these acts of violence are unacceptable.
I assured him of my full support and the solidarity of the Nation.
On the government side, the Prime Minister has so far denounced "facts" and "unacceptable violence" following the aggression of the mayor of Saint-Philippe d'Aiguille. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, also condemned "with the greatest firmness this violence against an elected representative of the Republic".
Miscellaneous
In Gironde, a mayor hospitalized after being beaten up, a wanted suspect
Society
Emmanuel Macron shows his support for the local police
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