As he swallows, this Saturday, April 4, the 300 km that separate him from his father, who lives in Rivedoux-Plage, on the Ile de Ré (Charente-Maritime), Patrice Dupas, 51, is only 'only one obsession. "I want to hear him tell me I love you, " rewinds this winemaker based in Saint-Romain-sur-Cher (Loir-et-Cher), where he has a 60 hectare grape variety, mainly Sauvignon. The voice of this father of two is hoarse on the phone. "It's surely very stupid, because he never told me. He is of a generation that does not express much. But maybe there he would have done it. "
Fifteen days earlier, Claude Dupas, 82, learned that he had "cancer of the urethra, which has spread to the liver, bones and peritoneum". He knows he is doomed, very soon. So when his mother-in-law Françoise calls him to tell him that Claude's state of health is deteriorating, Patrice immediately understands that he must go without delay to his father's bedside.
"It was Easter weekend, and the start of the holidays in zone C [which includes Paris in particular, editor's note] I knew that the controls were going to intensify," he explains. The winemaker contacts the digital brigade of the national gendarmerie, and explains his situation. He is told that a trip for "compelling family motive" is in the nails, according to a screenshot that Le Parisien was able to consult.
On the way, Patrice is checked for the first time, leaving the A10 motorway. “The gendarme told me that there was no problem and wished me good luck . The father of the family has almost arrived at his destination, when he is arrested again, at the exit of the Pont de Ré. "This time, the gendarme refused to hear anything. He told me that it was forbidden to go and see the elders in the nursing homes. However, I replied that my father was hospitalized at home. "
Hoping to prove her good faith, Patrice calls his mother-in-law in front of the gendarme. “I made sure that the situation did not worsen. I never went up to the towers, ”he says. But he was prevented from passing, and was fined 135 euros for breach of confinement.
Word against word
According to his story, Patrice then shows the gendarme his exchanges with the digital brigade. His father's general practitioner even intervened, explaining to the soldier by telephone "in what condition [his patient] is". The gendarme, according to our information, says for his part never to have been informed that the father of the winemaker was dying.
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Very uplifted, Patrice's stepmother contacted the mayor of Rivedoux-Plage, Patrice Raffarin, through an elected official. The councilor invites Françoise to contact the prefecture of Charente-Maritime. "There, she came across two different interlocutors, who did not want to believe it," denounces Patrice. For fear of being fined for recidivism, the fifty-something ends up turning around. "The last words my father said to me on the phone are: Don't worry, we'll see you again . I can never forget them. Claude died five days later.
Back home, Patrice once again requests the digital brigade, by chat this time, which confirms to him that he was well within his rights. "You fit well in a case of imperative family displacement," replied a gendarme, in an exchange that we were able to consult. “You only have the way of contestation. "
The "very moved" gendarmerie
"Bitter", Patrice Dupas made a report on April 6 to IGGN, the "gendarme of gendarmes". “I am not anti-police, far from it. I have no hatred, ”he breathes. "But I couldn't say goodbye to my father because of the gendarme's abuse of rights. I expect at least a return from IGGN and, above all, an apology. "
The same day, the winemaker said he wrote to the La Rochelle prosecutor, Laurent Zuchowicz. Contacted by us, the latter specifies that he has still "not received the mail", probably because of the disturbances that currently affect distribution. But the magistrate promises to examine the request "with kindness".
Solicited by Le Parisien, the national gendarmerie said it was "very moved" by the situation. “The prefecture, in conjunction with the government, had asked for strict application of containment measures, on the outskirts of Île de Ré, where there are many second homes. Especially during the Easter weekend, ”we explain.
The mayor of Rivedoux will "seize the prefect"
And the national gendarmerie to add: "The gendarme who checked Mr. Dupas relied on the footnote of the attestation, which requests a document to justify the derogatory reason. On the regulatory level, it is in the strict application of documentation. Nevertheless, we ask our patrols to apply these firmness instructions with discernment. According to our information, the commander of the Charente-Maritime gendarmerie group plans to contact Patrice Dupas.
The mayor of Rivedoux-Plage, for his part, says he is "morally collapsed and very angry". “I knew that Claude Dupas' days were numbered. As mayor, I have no authority over the gendarmes. But by inviting Mr. Dupas' partner to contact the prefecture, I was convinced that the problem would be treated with kindness, ”laments Patrice Raffarin. "I will seize the prefect [of Charente-Maritime] and I do not exclude other actions". Contacted, the prefecture did not respond to our requests.