Paris (AFP)
Prime Minister Jean Castex pledged "solemnly before the Senate and the country" on Wednesday that there "will be no areas without identity checks", reacting to a request for "experiments" in certain neighborhoods issued by the Defender of rights.
This constitutes "an independent authority" but "it turns out that the government of the Republic is also independent of the Defender of Rights", declared Jean Castex during questions to the government in the Senate, "with all due respect to this institution ".
"I solemnly say before the Senate and the country that there are not and that there will be no zones without identity checks, in application of the laws of the Republic", he added. in a short response to Senator from the North, Dany Wattebled (Independents).
During the report of the Council of Ministers at midday, government spokesman Gabriel Attal had already indicated that the "proposal" of the Defender of Rights would not be "followed" by the executive.
Last Friday, Claire Hédon recalled that her body, which observes in particular the respect for the ethics of the security forces, has long requested that "experiments" be carried out in certain neighborhoods, such as the end of identity checks, "which can become unbearable for some young people ".
This statement prompted a reaction from several right-wing politicians and police unions such as Alliance, which accused it of wanting to create "lawless zones".
But also, in hollow, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin who declared Monday in Poissy (Yvelines) that "all the police officers are everywhere at home in the Republic".
"I never wanted to end identity checks" or question the presence of the police in sensitive areas, defended Ms. Hédon Tuesday on Europe 1.
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