“The Sainte-Soline drama was both resistible and predictable”

2023-04-20 18:15:03

BAlthough of an intensity that is not unknown in the recent history of conflicts, the conflictuality of the events that took place on March 25 in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres) is of great magnitude. The system deployed by the police forces the French to question themselves, like all of Europe, the United States and the international organizations for the protection of rights (Council of Europe, United Nations).

Asked by CNews the day before the events, Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, announced that “the French are going to see new extremely violent images, (…) we will see extremely harsh images” during the new demonstration by opponents of the mega-basin project under construction in Sainte-Soline. How could he know, if he hadn’t already decided on the principle of a confrontation rather than a de-escalation?

His self-fulfilling prophecy came true. Nearly 3,200 gendarmes, 9 helicopters, 4 VBRG armored vehicles, 4 water launchers and a platoon of 20 quads were mobilized to disperse a demonstration made up of 6,000 to 8,000 demonstrators, including 800 to 1,000 “radicals” and 400 to 500 “experienced and ultra-violent black blocks” (according to the police). And of which we could see the reality of the aggressiveness, a point which is beyond doubt in our mind. The toll is heavy: 47 wounded among the gendarmes, including 6 evacuated, several hundred among the demonstrators, including 40 serious, and two in a coma. They are still struggling for life and, at best, will have to live with heavy consequences.

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As of Monday, March 27, two reports were published, one from the prefecture and the other from the gendarmerie (accompanied by a notebook of photographs). We must insist on the exceptional, but also welcome, nature of this initiative, especially in the current context of questioning the way in which the public authorities in France manage the gatherings of citizens in the public space, whether in anger or not. It should be etched into the national policing scheme.

Strategic failure

Reading these reports, however, leaves one wondering: according to them, the upstream risks have been correctly identified. However, the gathering in the area of ​​groups determined to do battle was not prevented, and worse, these groups were able to come into contact with the units deployed near the mega-basin under construction: a hole with a perimeter of 1, 8 kilometers in the middle of a huge flat field without cover.

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