France: police unions, received at the Elysée Palace on May 12, demand an "anti-thug law"

Police officers help a colleague who was reportedly injured during a protest on May 1 in Paris, May 1, 2023. AFP - GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

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The police unions demanded in a letter to Emmanuel Macron "an anti-thug law" also requested by Gérald Darmanin, ensuring that the police live an "apocalyptic situation" in the face of the "violence" that dots the demonstrations, especially after the mobilization of May 1.

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It is not the head of state, but his chief of staff, Patrick Strzoda, who will receive the police unions on Friday, May 12. A request for an appointment accepted in just a few hours by the Elysee, proof that the executive wants to show that it takes the subject very seriously.

On the agenda of this meeting, the police unions, led by Alliance, are expected to argue the need for an anti-rioters law after the violence that took place during the May 1 demonstrations. In Paris, a policeman caught fire and was seriously injured after throwing a Molotov cocktail. "This is a first step. Our goal is to be received by the head of state," explained Alliance spokesman Eric Henry.

For his part, the secretary general of the SGP police unit, Grégory Joron, sent a letter to all the presidents of parliamentary groups, with the exception of LFI, insisting on the need to "legislate" to "prohibit demonstrations with violent elements and dangerous also for our democracy".

These initiatives support the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who, the day after May 1, had again called for the development of an anti-thug law.

► Read also: The France criticized at the UN for racial discrimination and police violence

A minimum sentence for law enforcement abusers

In addition to this anti-thug law to limit their presence even before the start of a demonstration, the police should also ask for "a criminal response with a minimum penalty for aggressors of the police, and this, from the first acts committed" or "the inclusion in the law of the use of drones for preventive use".

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Will we have to wait for a tragedy to intervene in the ranks of the police or the demonstrators so that the political power and the legislator finally become aware of the seriousness of the situation? ", asks the secretary general of the SGP police unit.

Not sure, however, that the Élysée accedes to all these requests from this first appointment. On Wednesday, May 3, government spokesman Olivier Véran was circumspect, arguing that there was "no answer at this stage" on the need for a new law.

He recalled that in 2019, the Constitutional Council had emptied a similar text of its objective, by censoring the possibility for prefects to pronounce administrative bans on demonstrations. Nevertheless, the Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti and Gérald Darmanin must study the question.

► Read also: France: protesters and union denounce an increase in police violence

(With AFP)

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• France
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• Gerald Darmanin