Saint-Brévin: seven ultra-right activists arrested on the sidelines of a conference on the reception of exiles

2023-09-24 02:55:51

Another tense day in this small town in Loire-Atlantique. Sixty ultra-right activists who came to Saint-Brévin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique) on Saturday “for action against the holding” of a conference on the reception of exiles were spotted by the gendarmerie, a- we learned from a source close to the matter.

“Six people are in police custody for carrying a weapon by destination and participating in a gathering for an undeclared demonstration,” said this source. The Loire-Atlantique prefecture reported seven arrests at the end of the day.

The conference, organized by four associations, took place on Saturday under close surveillance due to tensions surrounding the move of the reception center for asylum seekers (Cada) in the town.

A day under high security

All day long, gendarmerie cars guarded access to the site where this conference, entitled “Welcoming Exiles,” took place. For what ? How ? ”, and controlled vehicles traveling nearby. The gendarmerie checked more than 550 vehicles, according to the prefecture.

On Friday, the town hall issued a municipal decree prohibiting demonstrations around the conference site, the town hall and the future Cada. The swimming pool and cinema located near the room where the conference was held had been closed for the day, by decision of the prefecture. This had also authorized the use of surveillance drones for the day.

Far-right demonstrations have continued in Saint-Brévin, a quiet seaside resort, since the officialization, at the end of 2021, of the transfer of a reception center for asylum seekers (Cada), which already existed in the town . The year it opened, in 2016, the center was the subject of rifle fire.

The city’s former mayor, Yannick Morez, resigned in May after being the subject of threats from the far right. These attacks culminated last March with the burning of two of the mayor’s vehicles in front of his home, the facade of which was also affected by the flames.