Several months in prison were required Friday in Agen against two leaders of the Chamber of Agriculture of Lot-et-Garonne tried for the illegal construction of a reservoir for irrigation purposes, a work that defense associations of the environment have been contesting for two years.
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The prosecution asked for 9 months in prison for Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, president of the Chamber of Agriculture of Lot-et-Garonne, and 8 months for Patrick Franken, ex-president of the Rural Coordination, majority union of the department, and current vice-president of the consular chamber.
Five years of deprivation of civil rights and a fine of 5,000 euros were also required against the two men, whom some 200 activists of the Rural Coordination, accompanied by cows and tractors, had come to support the courthouse. Deliberation is expected on July 10.
Located about twenty kilometers north of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Lake Caussade was built on 20 hectares by farmers wishing to irrigate their farms in the dry season, despite 4 prefectural orders and 5 proceedings before the administrative court initiated by environmental protection associations, including France Nature Environnement (FNE).
"Environmental offenders"
“ In the history of French justice, this is a completely exceptional case. No public administrative establishment has violated the laws so deliberately and with such a balance. They are environmental offenders , ”said Ms. Alice Terrasse, lawyer for FNE. According to her, the book is also " dangerous for the safety of the public according to several studies ". The four civil party associations are claiming nearly 100,000 euros in damages.
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For the public prosecutor, the work was not only carried out " in disregard of regulations and nature but also in disregard of the life and health of others for the benefit of a few ". A reference to the destruction by the farmers of an electric line overhanging the work, without the authorization of Enedis, civil party and which requests 32,900 euros in compensation for material damage.
The two agricultural leaders recalled that a prefectural decree had initially authorized the works in June 2018, before its cancellation three months later after intervention by the ministries of ecological transition and agriculture. " A political decision " taken " under pressure from France Nature Environment ", denounced Serge Bousquet-Cassagne, " proud to have built this lake for farmers who need water ".
The lawyer for the defendants Me Luc-Christophe Dejean deplored a " republican schizophrenia ", with criminal proceedings but a May letter " signed by four ministers calling for appeasement and a settlement favorable to the legalization of this work " .
In March, elected officials from Lot-et-Garonne and the State proposed a compromise that allows farmers to use the structure as a source of irrigation this summer before it is completely emptied in the fall, after the dry period, prelude to filing a new authorization request.