“Alexandre, with us”, proclaim the demonstrators in front of the doors of the prefecture of Eure-et-Loir, which remained closed for the duration of the rally.
They were a hundred, this Thursday at noon, to protest in front of the building, after the arrest of a young demonstrator, Alexandre, on the sidelines of the visit of the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, Tuesday. “He was with us during the rally to welcome the minister and did nothing wrong. He was arrested and taken by force while he was on the ground and we learned that he had spent twenty-four hours in police custody”, specifies at the microphone Pierre Licout, departmental co-secretary of the FSU.
“I am angry at the misleading attitude of those who claim to be servants of the Republic. We demand the lifting of the charges against this young person and denounce the attitude of the prefect who seeks to repress this social movement.”
Pierre Licout (departmental co-secretary of the FSU)
Gathered in front of the gates of the prefecture, the demonstrators tried to challenge the prefect of Eure-et-Loir, Françoise Souliman, in order to “be received”. “Things are going well in Chartres and were going well until then, but the prefect, wherever she intervenes, wherever she is, we will whistle her”, insists Pierre Licout.
One memessage received at the level of the prefecture, since discussions are underway to receive the inter-union “today or very soon, with the objective of being received before May 1”, announces Pierre Licout.
According to our information, Alexandre “tried to steal a tear gas canister to the detriment of the national gendarmerie” on Tuesday, while the demonstrators were waiting for the Minister of Labor, near the Carsat.
Alexandre, for his part, adds: “It’s totally false, I didn’t steal anything and when the police gassed, I was on the ground. There were six of them around me, why? I was summoned in court on June 28 and asks that all the unions be there.”
Pension reform still in the sights
If the rally was above all an opportunity to protest against the arrest of Alexandre, it also aimed to denounce the promulgation of the pension reform, after the decision of the Constitutional Council, Friday, April 14. “We are obviously there, too, because the Constitutional Council did not censor the law and because Emmanuel Macron promulgated the text in stride, on the sly,” plagues the FSU.
“We want to keep the pressure on the government and we are mobilized to denounce this other democratic denial.”
Pierre Licout (departmental co-secretary of the FSU)
If the rally mobilized fewer people than usual (80 people according to the prefecture, 100 according to our count), the departmental inter-union is already preparing for May 1.
“We are going to tow, stick up posters, so that the whole population is mobilized on May 1, at 10:30 a.m., in front of the theater”, indicates Pierre Licout. “The mobilization must be followed and that is what will give an indication of the consequences of the movement. If the law is not withdrawn by May 1, we know that we will continue to mobilize.”
The unions present also planned to meet the deputy of the 1st district of Eure-et-Loir (Chartres), Guillaume Kasbarian, this Thursday afternoon, as part of his “Circo à vélo” operation.
“We arrested the two ministers (Elisabeth Borne, Friday April 14 and Olivier Dussopt, Tuesday April 18, Ed) who have passed through the department, but we have not seen the deputy Kasbarian for the moment”, underlines Pierre Licout. show that the crisis is also there, in Eure-et-Loir.”
Laura Alliche
