Residents of Square Forceval in the 19th arrondissement of Paris initiate an administrative appeal in order to obtain the evacuation of the camp for drug addicts. They are claiming 100,000 euros in compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
In September 2021, the police headquarters, “at the request of the Minister of the Interior”, took the decision to move between 150 and 200 crack users to this square in the northeast of the capital, on the border of Pantin and Aubervilliers in Seine-Saint-Denis. They had previously wandered around the Jardins d’Eole and Stalingrad sectors. The Paris police headquarters assured that it was a temporary solution. A solution that has already lasted too long for these residents.
“For eight months, we have only suffered contempt from the authorities responsible for this situation, namely the town hall and the State. The situation has become clearly unbearable, the attacks are increasing, becoming more and more violent”explains Stéphanie Benoist to France Blue Paris. She lives in Aubervilliers, 150 meters from this camp for drug addicts. Several demonstrations and meetings with the authorities have been organized in recent months.
Stéphanie Benoist and a hundred other residents have joined forces with the “Villette Village” association, which has contacted a lawyer, Maître Gil Moser. The latter filed a preliminary appeal to request the cancellation of the two orders issued by the Paris police chief on September 24, 2021 and 100,000 euros in compensation.
“In our respective condominiums, we are increasing the security devices, with video surveillance for example. Some condominiums also call on guards at night, these are costs. Our damage is real, it is such that we can no longer close your eyes or be silent on this aspect”, justifies Stephanie Benoist.
Me Moser emphasizes that his clients “are not sub-citizens”. In this prior appeal, he addressed to the police headquarters and the town hall of Paris a “summons to act”. It is about comparing them with “their calamitous management” of this file and finally obtain the evacuation of the camp. “We are ambitious, the idea is also to create a precedent so that the administration never reproduces these errors and faults again”explains the lawyer.
If this appeal is rejected and if the situation does not change quickly on the spot, a criminal complaint is not excluded, warns master Moser.
In a letter sent on Monday, May 30, to Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, the mayors of Aubervilliers, Pantin and the 19th arrondissement of Paris ask the Prime Minister to act in the face of the “disastrous situation” in Square Forceval.
The elected officials, Karine Franclet (Aubervilliers), Bertrand Kern (Pantin) and François Dagnaud (19th century), ask Ms. Borne to “make the resolution of this crisis a priority for actionof the new government.
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