The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin announced Tuesday, March 28, that he was initiating the procedure of dissolution of the group "Soulèvements de la terre", which he accused of being at the origin of the "violent actions" that occurred Saturday in Sainte-Soline, in the Deux-Sèvres during the banned demonstration against the water reservoirs.

Speaking during the session of questions to the government in the National Assembly, the Minister of the Interior added that he would present to a future Council of Ministers a decree of dissolution at the end of the procedure.

He insisted on "the extreme violence of small groups registered by the intelligence services sometimes for many years, such as the de facto group 'Soulupings of the Earth'". The group, presented as belonging to the ultra-left movement by the Ministry of the Interior, is one of the organizers of the demonstration of Sainte-Soline against the "megabasins", which gave rise to violent clashes with the gendarmes.

🔴 DIRECT 🗣 "I have decided to initiate the dissolution of the "Earth Uprisings"" announced the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin following the incidents in Sainte-Soline. pic.twitter.com/lF6FObzaPL

— franceinfo (@franceinfo) March 28, 2023

The minister announced that he had requested "two reports", one to the prefect of Deux-Sèvres and the other to the director general of the national gendarmerie, on the events of Sainte-Soline. These two reports, he said, will be put "online in the afternoon on the website of the Ministry of the Interior". "The government has nothing to hide," he said.

According to a note from the Ministry of the Interior dated Tuesday, "Uprisings of the Earth" (SLT) "incites and participates in the commission of sabotage and material damage". Created in 2021 by "members of the ultra-left from the former ZAD (zone to defend) of Notre-Dame-des-Landes" in Loire-Atlantique, SLT has "created the concept of 'disarmament' intended to accept the practice of eco-sabotage," according to the note.

The police response is debated

At the same time, a hearing of the Minister of the Interior at the National Assembly was announced, on the "management of the maintenance of order", said the president of the Law Commission Sacha Houlié.

This hearing in committee should take place "next week", according to the deputy Renaissance, while the left criticizes the police response to the demonstrations against the pension reform and the rally against the "megabasins" in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres), marked by violent clashes.

>> READ ALSO: In the midst of social conflict, the maintenance of order to the French pointed the finger

A citizens' petition has also been launched on the website of the National Assembly to demand the "dismantling" of the BRAV-M, police units at the heart of the criticism. It collected more than 140,000 citizen signatures in six days and could be debated in public if it collects 500,000.

Before this threshold, the Law Committee can already appoint a deputy rapporteur, who may choose to close the petition or examine it in committee.

After the hearing of Gérald Darmanin, the Law Commission "will study in a second time the admissibility of the petition on the dissolution of the BRAV-M in the coming weeks," said Sacha Houlié.

Created in the spring of 2019 during the yellow vest movement, the BRAV-M are police units circulating on motorcycles to ensure the maintenance of order in demonstrations, being more mobile than CRS companies or mobile gendarmes. Their mission is to go in contact with the thugs to stop the damage and challenge them.

They are nevertheless criticized for their heavy-handed methods of intervention and are under several judicial investigations for violence against demonstrators.

With AFP

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