2023-07-02 13:22:37
In Reunion, urban violence
Firing of fireworks during clashes with the police at Le Port, on the island of Reunion, on June 30, 2023. RICHARD BOUHET / AFP
Fewer clashes between rioters and law enforcement, fewer vehicle fires, trash cans or wooden pallets blocking the road: urban violence was more limited overnight from Saturday to Sunday in Reunion compared to the night before. According to Parvine Lacombe, chief of staff to the prefect, this violence “were committed in a more punctual manner” in ten localities on the island. “Without common measure with the day before”.
The clashes were concentrated in the Chaudron district, in Saint-Denis. Between midnight and 4 a.m., the rioters targeted, using pebbles, Molotov cocktails and some mortar fire, police and gendarmes, who responded with tear gas canisters. These clashes caused no injuries. “There was hostility, but the violence subsided in intensity”observes Commissioner Laurent Fraysse, territorial director of the national police. “The rioters played cat and mouse with our colleagues”, notes Idriss Rangassamy, regional secretary of the Alliance Police union. Mediators from the city of Saint-Denis had tried to ease the tensions at the start of the evening.
Four people were arrested in Saint-Denis, Port and Saint-Pierre. Throughout the island, 70 fires, mainly garbage cans and a few vehicles, were counted by the police. “The window of a motorcycle dealership, in the Chaudron district, was damaged by projectile throwing, informs the prefecture of Reunion. In Saint-Louis, the building of the municipal police was the subject of projectiles”. 220 police and gendarmes were deployed in the department overnight.
In a press release, the prefect of La Réunion, Jérôme Filippini, once again condemned “firmly these events” and has « renew[é] his call for appeasement. In a column published in the local media, the mayor of the city of Le Port, Olivier Hoarau (various left) also condemned “with the greatest firmness these acts”. “Violence is unacceptable, inexcusable. She never solved any problem”, writes the chosen one. During the night of Thursday to Friday, the Citizen’s House of his commune, an access point to the law, had been vandalized and partially burned. “We will bring the Maison du citoyen back to life from its ashes. And we will continue the work of social mediation in the neighborhoods, because we believe more than ever in the power of dialogue”adds Mr. Hoarau.
Saturday afternoon, the president of the departmental council of La Réunion, Cyrille Melchior, also took the floor to “condemn these actions which will in no way resolve the situation in France”. “I call for reason and appeasement here on our island by asking everyone to trust justice”communicates the elected official.
Jérôme Talpin (Saint-Denis (Reunion), correspondence)
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