"We wanted to say this message of trust and respect (...) at a time when the emotion is very great, very legitimate, very shared," said Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on Tuesday. during a trip to Évry (Essonne), where he met police officers and officials of a citizens' association.
The head of government then called for "respect and confidence" in the police, but also for "the requirement", while acknowledging a "very great emotion" in the context of the international movement denouncing racism and police violence .
"Men are born free and equal before the law"
"We owe them respect and trust", as does "the vast majority of French people", but "we also have a duty to demand from them", he added.
He recalled the current context, returning to the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old American who died during his arrest in Minneapolis. Édouard Philippe stressed that "emotion" was "shared in all countries of the world" following the "dissemination of images showing the death of a man in unacceptable and, frankly, monstrous conditions".
The Prime Minister began his intervention by recalling the first sentence of the declaration of human rights: "men are born free and equal in law, free and equal in law". "It is the exact opposite of a society which would be based on belonging to a religion on skin color or on distinctions which would have nothing to do with this fundamental idea," he added. .
Police misunderstanding
He paid tribute to the police and gendarmes, who "are on the front line" to "protect us all". "Their mission is frighteningly difficult," he said, because they are "confronted with tensions, with threats and risks".
After talking to the police at the Évry police station, he said that they had expressed "their emotion and sometimes their incomprehension in front of a certain number of critics of which they are the object".
"Zero tolerance"
Christophe Castaner advocated Monday at a press conference a "zero tolerance" of racism in the police, whose suspension will be "systematically considered for every suspicion proven" in the matter.
Several demonstrations have taken place in recent days against police violence in France, denouncing in particular the death of Adama Traoré, in 2016 during his arrest.