“
The State lowers its head and eyes!
".
Since the arrival in recent days of a column of caravans of Travelers in his city, the mayor (LR) Sébastien Leroy of Mandelieu-la-Napoule (Alpes-Maritimes) denounces the absence of controls and "
impunity total
”given by the prefectural services.
Denouncing a breach of equal treatment between citizens, the elected official thus decided that the municipal police would no longer carry out checks on certificates, and would content themselves with verifying the wearing of a mask and compliance with the curfew.
To discover
"A little voice told me to leave": who are the voluntary disappearances and why do they choose to evaporate in nature?
Read also: Travelers: elected officials worried about "great passages"
Municipal police officers overthrown when the caravans arrive
At the beginning of March, a first arrival of Travelers, who stayed for ten days, had already posed a problem.
This time, around twenty caravans first entered the parking lot of a supermarket, before moving to that of a nearby Decathlon store.
Questioned by
Le Figaro
, Sébastien Leroy details the situation: "
for the second time in a month, a commercial area of Mandelieu is invaded and taken hostage by these people, who arrived from afar while we are supposedly in national confinement
".
The mayor deplores “
numerous degradations
” and dangers linked to the installation, “
with wild connections to
public and private
water and electricity meters
”.
More seriously, officers were said to have been knocked down when the trucks arrived: “
Yesterday
[Monday]
, two municipal police officers were knocked down.
We have the images, we will file a complaint.
We're lucky, but I don't want it to happen again,
”says the elected official.
Sébastien Leroy is moreover not so exasperated by the disturbances as by the powerlessness of the State in these migrations, illegal in times of confinement.
“
The state forbids us to travel more than 10 kilometers, there is an intensive communication campaign, verbalizations.
But he closes his eyes in front of some, for whom it is then total impunity
", he denounces, also targeting"
the instructions given to the prefects to play appeasement
", rather than enforce the law.
Read also: Aix-en-Provence: a clandestine party of 150 people interrupted by the gendarmes
In a letter sent this Tuesday to the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, and of which
Le Figaro
was aware, the senator of the Alpes-Maritimes Henri Leroy (former mayor of Mandelieu-la-Napoule), also denounced "
the squat suffered by the commune
”and the lack of reaction from the state.
“
The police would have received instructions that go against common sense and the tranquility that local populations are entitled to expect.
They were even asked [...] not to impound the vehicles
”.
For the mayor, "
the prefecture is a travel agency
"
Noting a "
breach of equality between citizens
" in respect of the particularly strict health policy, Sébastien Leroy therefore decided not to drive the point home for the Mandolociens, and asked his municipal police to no longer issue fines for non-
citizens.
respect for travel, focusing only on wearing a mask and curfews.
“
From the moment the state dispenses with applying its own rules, I don't see why I am going to help punish citizens while others are not.
You cannot accept this, while people have been confined for a year,
”explains the elected official.
As soon as the state dispenses with applying its own rules, I don't see why I am going to help punish citizens while others are not.
Sebastien leroy
To read also: "A worrying state with peaceful citizens, and weak with delinquents: until when?"
Contacted, Anne Frackowiak-Jacobs, sub-prefect of Grasse, explains that the gendarmerie has issued statements on the area since yesterday, in particular to people who do not respect the confinement measures, or the ten kilometer limit.
The police, however, could not go further, she admits, stressing that "
Travelers often settle on common land, and know that we will not be able to dislodge them, because this can only be done if the municipality also respects its legal obligations
”.
In question, the Besson law, which requires the municipalities to have dedicated land.
On this point, Sébastien Leroy nevertheless claims to have proposed land in the past, which ... the State itself has downgraded, because it was in a flood zone.
The Sub-Prefect recognizes the "
difficulty presented by the coastal areas
", only a few municipalities managing to respect the commitments of the Besson law.
"
With this law, the prefecture becomes a travel agency
" in charge of finding a place for sometimes fussy travelers, laughs Sébastien Leroy, who says "
solemnly call for the repeal
" of the text, which prevents any solution adapted to local imperatives on the subject.
Travelers' stay may not last, however.
Anne Frackowiak-Jacobs recalls that the prefecture may intervene with a "
court decision
", and that the owner of the Decathlon store called a bailiff on Tuesday morning, to verify the occupation of the parking lot.
Business to follow, therefore ... At the rate of the State and its administrative services.
