France: before the National Assembly, the police demand a firmer justice
Gathered in front of the National Assembly in Paris on May 19, the French police are calling for more resources and firmer justice.
AFP - THOMAS COEX
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The police demonstrated this Wednesday, May 19 in front of the National Assembly to demand more severity for the attackers of the police.
A rally at the call of the police unions, two weeks after the murder of Eric Masson, brigadier in Avignon killed by a drug dealer.
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With our special
correspondent ,
Alexis Bedu
In front of the National Assembly, the atmosphere is very special.
Earlier this week, the police unions called on citizens to join them, which opened the breach for politicians and totally changed the tone of the rally.
It is therefore the union that prevails with the entire political class, except the rebellious and Europe Écologie-The Greens only represented by Yannick Jadot.
The Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, came to “
greet
” the police;
almost all of the elected members of the National Rally are there, except Marine Le Pen who has gone to visit a police station in Bordeaux;
representatives of the Republicans party;
Olivier Faure for the Socialist Party and Fabien Roussel for the Communist Party.
The right and the far right are playing their part just one month before the regional elections.
Because safety is their credo.
As for the elected representatives of the left, the objective is to occupy the field, to show that they too care about the demands of the police.
But what looks a lot like political recovery is not necessarily to the taste of the police.
“
They will not steal the word of the police and citizens,
warns Olivier Hourcot, of the Alliance police union.
It is not a political forum.
We announced it.
They will have other places.
He is preparing for elections.
They will have projects to defend and demands to carry.
But today it is the word of the police and the citizens.
If they're there to support the police, that's fine.
If tomorrow they are in charge, they will have to take matters into their own hands.
The police expect a lot from them.
"
More severity towards those who attack the police
The police are calling for a stronger criminal response. Justice must be firmer, and faster when there is an assault on law enforcement personnel. Ten million additional euros were announced by Prime Minister Jean Castex ten days ago. A sum that will strengthen the security of police stations. But there is also the global security law which, according to Jean Castex, will strengthen the legal arsenal of the police
.
This is insufficient for the demonstrators today.
Some are calling for the implementation of minimum sentences.
Others would simply like the enforcement of existing penalties.
Violence against the police has doubled in twenty years.
At the start of the year, more than 85 incidents of
“
violence against persons holding public authority
”
were recorded daily across the country for the national police alone.
The police are disgusted.
Some go to work with a ball in their stomachs.
And above all, they feel more and more rejected by part of the population.
It is this message of fed-up that they came to bring to the National Assembly.
►
To read also: France: turmoil around the coming of Darmanin to the police gathering
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