Nearly a hundred agents of RTE, this subsidiary of EDF which manages the electricity transmission network in France, gathered on Thursday, October 6, in front of the operator’s headquarters, in La Défense near Paris , to protest against the placement in police custody of four of their colleagues in the premises of the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI). “Counter-terrorism services are used to silence agents’ salary demands “, Denounced a press release from the CGT Energy Mines Federation.
Aged 31 to 35, these agents, stationed at the network maintenance group (GMR) of Flandres Hainaut, in Valenciennes (North), were arrested at their home on Tuesday, October 4. “Handcuffed, and qualified in front of their families as cybercriminals in an organized gang”, says the CGT. They have since been heard in the premises of the DGSI in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine).
From judicial sources, they are accused of facts “obstruction of an automated data processing system”, of “computer sabotage”, d’« introduction », « modification » et “fraudulent deletion of data contained in an automated data processing system”. All organized. Their custody can be extended up to 96 hours, or four days. So until Saturday, October 8 in the morning.
“We make believe in cybercriminals! It’s a complete delirium! », indignant Francis Casanova, CGT central union delegate, bewildered, like all his colleagues at the turn of events.
Complaint by RTE
The investigation was opened on July 29 following a complaint from RTE. The operator did not wish to speak publicly but did so in an internal press release The world got a copy. The management of RTE mentions “serious acts” led “three times and concomitantly on the industrial tool” between June and July. Actions that would have led to the loss of “two essential functions for network operation: observability, i.e. the ability to see from a distance (…) what is happening on the network; manoeuvrability, i.e. the ability to act on this equipment” for planned actions or in response to contingencies. In short, potential risks.
“We reproach them for the local passage of the stations, for having cut off the remote control. As if the TV remote control was confiscated from you, that does not prevent it from working, but if you want to change the channel you have to move, deciphers Jean-Louis Maury, of the CGT RTE, who places these facts in the context of the major social movement experienced by the operator in the first half, for salary increases.
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