Mayors or their deputies are increasingly the target of attacks. According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior revealed by the Journal du dimanche , 233 mayors or deputy have been attacked since the start of 2020 against 198 last year at the same period. This violence was already increasing: 383 in 2019 against 361 in 2018.
Read also: Chronicle of 72 hours of ordinary violence in France: the shocking document
Latest case to date: that of the mayor of Croisilles in Pas-de-Calais, attacked Friday, August 7 in the evening after intervening to put an end to a nightly noise.
Gérard Larcher, President of the Senate, thus wishes " a strengthening of the protection of local elected representatives within the framework of texts on decentralization ", explains the JDD . For his part, Philippe Bas, chairman of the Senate Law Commission, asked Prime Minister Jean Castex for " a real government plan for the safety of mayors ". He thus hopes to see the creation of an advisory and support unit in the prefectures, because “ the mayor is often tempted to be discouraged and to give up ”. He also wants the automatic initiation of the payment of legal costs without a vote by the municipal council.
" Beyond compassion, the government must take action if it really wants to protect them ", responded to the JDD the Association of Mayors of France. Philippe Laurent, the secretary general, believes that the main problem comes from “ the penal response which is not fast enough. It gives a feeling of impunity ”. In fact, the trial as part of the investigation into the death of Jean-Mathieu Michel, mayor of Signes (Var), has still not taken place a year later. The 76-year-old was hit by a van that had illegally deposited rubble.