Prefect Bernard Schmeltz’s answer
“Following the publication today of an open letter from the CGT FO FSU and Solidaires de Côte-d’Or trade union organizations, relating to possible incidents during the demonstration on January 24, the prefect wishes to provide clarifications following:
– By the time the incidents in Wilson Square occurred, the security forces had already received information from the union delegate of one of the organizations that the activists had been invited to return home. Mainly remained on the spot only groups of individuals refusing to disperse and determined to do battle with the police
– The signatories of the open letter omit to indicate that the intervention of the police came after the regulatory summons to disperse, at the end of which the offenders are liable to the crime of assembly. If there is an intention to cause the incident, the responsibilities are more to be sought from those who choose to go to the police after warnings to disperse
– No police report mentions the presence of children coming out of a school near the individuals who were subjected to tear gas shots from projectiles. The action of the police forces obeys the principles of necessity and proportionality, as illustrated by the numerous operations of maintenance of order carried out since the beginning of the movement of yellow vests
– If a fire engine was well near the place of the intervention, in no case it would have suffered damage, having passed after it. The prefect’s responsibility is to ensure the security of the processions. As such, if malfunctions may have led to private vehicles crossing barriers or not having complied with prohibitions, which will have led them to access the route of the event, all the consequences will be drawn which are essential.
However, the regime for declaring demonstrations cannot be reduced to “requirements” of the security services, from which trade union organizations are free to opt out as they see fit. The constitutionally protected freedom to demonstrate is no greater than the freedom to come and go, or the safeguarding of public order.
It is therefore up to the trade unions to declare their route and after discussion with the police, under cover of the prefecture, to obtain a receipt for a route in accordance with the requirements of public order and the safety of the demonstrators. Whenever possible, responsible dialogue between trade union organizations and prefecture services has resulted in a compromise solution that will satisfy all stakeholders.
The police force, in compliance with the code of ethics and under the constant supervision of the judicial authority, will continue to intervene when necessary to put an end to the disturbances which endanger not only the physical integrity of the police officers and gendarmes engaged on mechanisms for securing processions, but also for all of the participants who may be collateral victims.
The prefect deplores the trivialization of the use of violence as a means of expression on the public highway. He reiterates his invitation that the demonstrators clearly dissociate themselves from those who claim violent action, and renounce associating with them in the case of undeclared demonstrations, as was the case during attempts to block the oil depots, occupation of tracks at the SNCF station, obstruction of the free operation of buses and trams, etc.
The ethical framework for the intervention of the police is that imposed by the values of the Republic, in particular the principle of neutrality and respect for the rule of law. “
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