Suspicious purchases of fireworks mortars, these pyrotechnic devices often diverted by delinquents to attack the police, will now have to be reported to the Ministry of the Interior, according to a decree published on Monday, December 20.
Read alsoStrasbourg: seizure of 600 kilos of fireworks mortars
Any business guilty "
of not reporting suspicious transactions
" concerning these fireworks of the F2 and F3 category will now be exposed to a 5th class fine, or a fine of 1000 euros, according to the text published in the Official Journal.
The decree also specifies what constitutes the suspicious nature of a sale. A report must be made "
immediately after the attempted transaction
", if the customer "
refuses to prove his identity
", "
refuses to specify the use he intends to make
" of the fireworks, buys "
quantities unusual
”, that he insists on paying in cash, or wishes to acquire“
unusual items for the intended use
”. The traders have a maximum period of 72 hours to forward this information to the Interior. They will also have to keep a register of their sales for the last 18 months available to the police and the gendarmerie.
"Risks of serious disturbances to public order"
Published a few days before New Year's Eve, during which the police are each year the target of fireworks, this decree is the translation of measures voted in May in the Global Security law.
This law also provides for prohibiting the sale of fireworks mortars to the general public, punishing with six months' imprisonment traders who agree to sell them to non-professionals.
Faced with "the
risk of serious disturbances to public order
", the Paris police prefect Didier Lallement issued an order to prohibit "
the transfer (for consideration or not) and the transport of fireworks
" and "
the distribution of fuel in individual containers as well as their transport by individuals
”, from Friday 8:00 pm until Monday January 3 8:00 am, according to a press release from the PP.
Read alsoFires, mortar fire: teachers at the Lycée Rostand in Mantes-la-Jolie exercise their right of withdrawal
After the fireworks mortar attack on the Champigny-sur-Marne police station (Val-de-Marne) in October 2020, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin announced his desire to legally prohibit sale to the public of these pyrotechnic devices, very easily accessible on the internet. The fireworks mortars are "
weapons by destination
", he had estimated. “
They can hurt, they can kill and today we must stop this sale on the internet, this sale which is not intended for professionals and that we penalize it.
"
In early December, two students from a high school in Mantes-la-Jolie (Yvelines) were arrested after fireworks were fired which had targeted the establishment.
These incidents had created a strong emotion among the teaching staff who had threatened to exercise their right of withdrawal.
