Paris (AFP)
Christophe Castaner said Tuesday that it was "essential for him to be the first defender" of the police "against all those who soiled them by accusing them of being militias, barbarians" and have demanded that they be "disarmed".
For a week under the wrath of the police, the Minister of the Interior said he was "proud" of the police, at the National Assembly where he was subjected to the rolling fire of questions from several deputies.
"Our security forces do exceptional work in difficult conditions, face threats, repression," he said.
On several occasions, he vigorously supported the police and the gendarmerie, in order for him to respond to those who accused him of "dropping" the police when he announced the ban on '' an arrest technique, the key to choking, and "zero tolerance" for acts of racism on the part of the police.
"It is essential for me to be their first defender, and I am proud of it, against all those who soiled them by accusing them of being militias, barbarians" and asked that they be "disarmed".
"Neither cowardice nor never lack of courage," insisted the minister, arguing that the police were "the guardians of the Republic" and that he could count on them to carry "the requirement of ethics, morals and responsibility ".
Christophe Castaner also went back on his requirement to fight racism in the police ranks: "There is no question of stigmatizing the national police when we fight racism within it because some individuals dirty it by their behavior ". "It is because we want to defend the police that we must bear this requirement, this zero tolerance."
As for the ban on the "choke key", he repeated that it was "a dangerous gesture".
The Minister of the Interior also defended his action, with a "three-year action budget of one billion additional credits for internal security" and the recruitment of "10,000 police and gendarmes", as well as the payment of overtime.
© 2020 AFP