Faced with the anger of the farmers, it was the firm commitment of Bruno Retailleau, Minister of the Interior on the eve of the demonstrations. “I told them three limits: no damage to property, no damage to people, (…) no lasting blockage. Because otherwise, there will be zero tolerance.”
But on the Rural Coordination roadblocks, the instructions seem to have gone badly. When the subject is raised, a demonstrator does not hesitate to insult the minister. Crude remarks, perhaps because the instructions are not really applied by the police. According to information from “l’Œil du 20 Heures”, the police forces recorded nearly 13 cases of damage to property throughout France, with no arrests.
Example in Guéret, Tuesday, in Creuse. Around thirty farmers from Rural Coordination converge in the town. After a cordial meeting with the prefect, the procession broke into the parking lot of the MSA, the agricultural social mutual, a public agency.
On images from France 3 and the newspaper The Mountain, we can see police officers in the parking lot. However, none of them move, even though the portal has just been forced. Same scene in the entrance hall, where a commissioner watches the farmers pushing tractor tires into the hall after having sprayed and forced the entrance door.
The farmers then attack the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), the environmental police, responsible for controlling them. Here again, same observation: tags, trash in the hallway, and door kicked in. The farmers even seized internal documents. Two complaints were filed by the OFB.
Here again, the images show police officers remaining behind during the break-in, while they are equipped in law enforcement clothing. Why not intervene? The prefecture denies any preferential treatment for the farmers, but admits that everything did not go as planned. “That could happen because the demonstration was ultimately not very organized. It was very difficult to predict their route.” assures the prefect of Creuse, Anne Frackowiak-Jacobs.
However, according to a local security source, the police were instructed to tolerate certain damage. “On public buildings, there should not be any significant damage, so there… It’s a question of appreciation. At first, it seemed like minor damage. And then, indeed, the doors gave way, because they were not very strong. From there, we were unable to prevent damage.”
According to police sources at “l’Œil du 20 Heures”, more than ten similar acts have been recorded since Monday in France, without any arrests recorded. Despite the declarations of their minister, would the police be more tolerant towards farmers? Without saying anything, Régis Debord, deputy national secretary CRS – Unsa-Police, rrecognizes a form of sympathy towards farmers. “It’s not the same audience as an average demonstration. And then, the cause is that the reaction of my colleagues is perhaps a little more moderate, as long as there are no major abuses.”
Asked, the office of the Minister of the Interior says it maintains the objective of zero tolerance, and assures that the police reaction will be firmer if the demonstrations become tougher. The authorities also count on justice, as in Guéret. An investigation was opened by the public prosecutor’s office, and the farmers responsible for the damage have already reportedly “been identified”according to the prefect of Creuse.
