More than 6,500 people attended the Carnival de la Plaine in Marseille, despite the coronavirus epidemic -
Christophe Simon / AFP
As every year, the carnival of the Plain had not been the subject of any declaration in the prefecture.
However, the town hall and the prefecture were aware of such an event.
Opponents of Benoît Payan accuse him of laxity, while the police consider it materially impossible to ban this carnival, given the system put in place.
Thousands of people celebrating in the streets of Marseille, in the midst of the epidemic.
The images of the carnival of the Plain, and its carnival-goers drinking, hugging, far from the sanitary instructions in force, have been around the media.
With quickly, the same eternal question: how could such an event have occurred in this health context?
Certainly, as every year since its creation, this militant event, without an official organizer, is never declared in the prefecture.
For more than twenty years, this carnival has been organized during the same period to promote political and social demands.
A known event
"This is not the first attempt at unauthorized demonstrations on the public highway in Marseille, regrets in passing the deputy mayor in charge of security, Yannick Ohanessian.
When the prefect of police was appointed at the beginning of the year, one of the issues on which she wanted to work was that of bringing back to this city demonstrations on the public highway in the official statements.
"
But far from a secret festive event as France was able to experience during this health crisis, the organization, tolerated so far, of this carnival had been publicly announced for days on social networks and even in the street, by posters in the city center of Marseille.
Questioned on this point by
20 Minutes, the
police headquarters and town hall do not hide the fact that they had knowledge of this event beforehand.
"Nothing was anticipated"
“Yes, the elected representatives of the Marseille left were fully aware of the immense risks to the health of the Marseillais, accuses the LR group to the Marseille city council.
[…] Yes, the city of Marseille was informed several days ago of this demonstration, by posters, leaflets, by social networks, by residents exasperated by this situation, who even wrote to the mayor to tell him about it. express their concerns.
The Marseille left continues to get bogged down in letting it happen, irresponsibility and insecurity ”.
"I have the feeling that there was no meeting between the town hall and the prefecture, that nothing was anticipated, denounces the opposition municipal councilor Lionel Royer-Perreault.
There should have been coordination between the services of the city of Marseille and the prefecture.
"
"We have done what is necessary to alert"
“Me on March 8, I wrote to Madam the Prefect on the idea that this carnival could take place on the public highway, defends Yannick Ohanessian.
I asked the departmental director of public security himself to look to make every effort to supervise this demonstration if it ever had to take place.
We have done what is necessary to alert.
"
"Even if this event was not declared in the prefecture, a control device had been set up around the course to verbalize the non-compliance with barrier gestures," said the police headquarters in a press release on Sunday.
Contacted by
20 Minutes on
Monday, the prefecture, however, refuses to detail this device.
The dispersion of the carnival riders did not take place until the very end of the day, around 6 p.m., while CRS trucks were waiting near La Canebière, when the procession arrived.
For his part, Yannick Ohanessian claims to have mobilized four municipal police crews of three people each.
" To prohibit ?
It's impossible "
“Our colleagues were informed at the beginning of last week, reports Rudy Manna, departmental secretary of the Alliance union.
There were between 100 and 120 public security police and two CRS companies.
To ban the demonstration, it would have taken four times as much, and that's impossible!
Even when it's very hot between OM and PSG, we have ten to twelve companies.
"
And to assume: "Can you imagine?
It would have been necessary to block all the accesses, and send the police officers into the demonstration.
And we know how it would have gone.
If you issue summons, they're not going to leave.
Then the colleagues would have evacuated the place by using force.
We would have been filmed with cell phones.
And who would have paid the bill at the end?
The police men.
"
An unprecedented number
"And if Yannick Ohanessian was aware of the holding of the carnival, he could have sent more municipal police officers to do physiognomy work," annoys another union police source on condition of anonymity.
He should have requisitioned police resources, to prevent the gradual agglutination on Place Jean-Jaurès, and alert in real time to the number of participants.
"
“I believe that the organizers were themselves overwhelmed, retorts Yannick Ohanessian.
This situation would have deserved that the organizers take a closer look at the way in which they were going to organize this event.
“For its twentieth anniversary, in 2019, the carnival had attracted, according to the estimates of the time of the police headquarters, nearly 3,400 people.
This Sunday, according to the police headquarters, they were twice as many, reaching the unprecedented figure of 6,500 carnival-goers.
Justice
Carnival in Marseille: The public prosecutor announces the opening of two investigations
Miscellaneous
Marseille: The town hall files a complaint in turn after the damage to the Carnival of the Plain
Justice