Asked about the seizure of the IGPN in Nantes, the Minister of the Interior supports the police and Elisabeth Borne recalls their “duty to set an example”
Questioned each in turn by the “rebellious” deputy Andy Kerbrat then by the leader of the ecologists, Cyrielle Chatelain, about the seizure of the IGPN in Nantes after accusations of sexual assault during a police check linked to a mobilization against the pension reform, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, as well as the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, did not wish to comment on the case frontally, which led to boos from part benches of the Nupes.
The facts mentioned took place in Nantes on March 14 after a filtering dam operation against the bill. The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) has been seized, announced the public prosecutor on Monday March 20. four young women, “aged 18 to 20”are “came to the police station to file a complaint to denounce acts of sexual assault that they allegedly suffered during a check carried out by the police services in Nantes, and I immediately entrusted the file to the IGPN”explained Renaud Gaudeul, public prosecutor of Nantes.
Detailing the case from the benches of the Assembly, MP Andy Kerbrat questioned the Minister of the Interior, launching: “Do you pay homage to these agents or do you sanction these practices? » The Minister of the Interior replied avoiding the question : “Like you, I would like to have a word for these 394 injured police and gendarmes”during the mobilizations against the pension reform. “For six days the police and the gendarmes have been dealing with 1,500 undeclared operations”, added the minister, without adding anything about the case on which he was questioned. He further asserted that « 94 agents » had been injured since Thursday and announced that he would go in the afternoon to the “bedside of injured police officers in Paris”.
“You compare damage to buildings to sexist and sexual violence. We will never get used to your unworthiness”then retorted Andy Kerbrat, while the “rebellious” deputies shouted their disapproval.
“Your government is behaving like a government under siege”then declared the ecologist Cyrielle Chatelain, alerting the Prime Minister to the fate of the demonstrators “bludgeoned, charged without clear warning, exposed to tear gas and trap situations”, after having addressed in turn the complaints lodged by the four students in Nantes.
Elisabeth Borne replied to him by saying that the police “have a duty to set an example”while unions of lawyers, magistrates and left-wing elected officials denounce police violence. “Faced with this violence [contre la réforme des retraites], I again want to pay tribute to our law enforcement agencies who provide security for the demonstrations. And I repeat, they have a duty to set an example and they are aware of it, our police officers like our gendarmes “added the Prime Minister, according to which “any report [à l’IGPN] is examined”.