Chaos of the Stade de France: the mea culpa of the prefect Didier Lallement
Paris police chief Didier Lallement (left) during a Senate hearing on the incidents at the Stade de France during the Champions League final, at the French Senate in Paris, June 9, 2022. AFP - ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Before the senators who auditioned him this Thursday, June 9, the prefect of police Didier Lallement recognizes "
a failure
" in the police management of the evening and a possible error on his part on the number of Liverpool supporters who came to the stadium without a ticket .
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A week after the Ministers of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the prefect of police, in turn, made amends in front of the senators.
“
It is obviously a failure
”, concedes Didier Lallement, deploring that there were “
people jostled and attacked when we owed them security
”.
He regrets what he describes as "
the shaken image of France
" that evening.
Spectators without tickets who climb the gates, supporters and families sprayed with tear gas, other victims of robberies or assaults: the device for maintaining order during the Real Madrid-Liverpool Champions League final, match the most important of the season in Europe, has since been the subject of heated controversy in France and England.
🇬🇧 During his hearing in the Senate on the incidents at the #StadedeFrance, during the final of the #LiguedesChampions football, the Minister of the Interior Gérald #Darmanin dismissed any government error but changed his tone.
🎧 Details @julien_chavanne #RFImatin 👇 pic.twitter.com/orn8QdfpCE
– RFI (@RFI) June 2, 2022
Like Gérald Darmanin before him, Didier Lallement expresses his "
sincere regrets to people of good faith, sometimes families
" who were victims of tear gas.
But like his minister, the prefect of police defends the idea "
that there was no other way
" to push back the crowd.
During his hearing, the Minister of the Interior had assured a week ago that he had "
asked for sanctions
" from the prefect of police for two members of the police, guilty according to him of using tear gas "
contrary to the rules of employment
”.
The two administrative investigations which will make it possible to decide on these sanctions are “
in progress
”, indicates to AFP the entourage of the minister.
► To read also: Clashes at the Stade de France: "These crowd movements could have done a lot of damage"
Figures “
not perfectly fair
”
Regarding this crowd and the number highly disputed by the British authorities, the press and many observers of 35,000 Liverpool supporters who came to the stadium with falsified tickets or without a ticket, a figure maintained by Gérald Darmanin in front of the senators, Didier Lallement said "
fully assume
" this estimate that he "
gave to the Minister
".
Before recognizing, and he is the first to do so, that he was “
perhaps mistaken
” and that these figures were probably “
not perfectly correct
”.
He refutes in particular having said that these supporters were all "
in front of the gates of the stadium
", while several videos and testimonies have shown that there was not a large number of supporters around the Stade de France after the start of the match. .
(With AFP)
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Gerald Darmanin