A strange standoff began between the police and opponents of the A69 project in Tarn.
Dozens of police officers had completely surrounded on Saturday evening, in Saïx (Tarn), the trees on which opponents of the Toulouse-Castres motorway were camped, AFP journalists noted.
These activists refuse to leave the trees of a wood which must be razed to allow passage of the highway.
According to the opponents, who have built a Zone to Defend (ZAD), an excavator entered the woods early Saturday afternoon.
The prefecture declared that “machines are on site to begin the work”.
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In the trees, 18 activists still occupy the cabins, according to Thomas Digard, from the Voie est libre collective, present on site.
The prefecture estimated their number at “around ten” on Friday.
The police, “around a hundred” at the end of the afternoon, according to the prefecture, blocked access to the woods.
Kept away from the trees, around thirty opponents encouraged those remaining at the top of the trees, called the “squirrels”: “Hold on!
", " Thanks for what you do !
» Others played music or said poems.
“They have something to hold on to”
“It is impossible to resupply them but they have enough to last,” said Thomas Digard.
The police “installed searchlights last night.
They threw tear gas grenades and they took turns regularly,” he added.
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On Friday, several associations, including Attac and the LDH, denounced “abuses” by the police around the ZAD, accusing them in particular of depriving activists camping on the trees of any possibility of supply.
Contacted by AFP, the prefecture did not wish to comment on this subject.
Opponents of the A69 project have also indicated that they would set up another ground camp a few hundred meters further on.
Several complaints filed
For the Way is free, the wood occupied by the zadists being of “strong environmental concern”, it can only be cleared between September 1 and October 15.
Atosca, the concessionaire designated by the State, considers that it has, since February 15, the right to resume tree cutting on the route.
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Four associations therefore filed an “environmental criminal summary” on February 9 with the Toulouse public prosecutor’s office to prohibit the resumption of land clearing.
The associations also claimed to have filed a complaint against X for “voluntarily endangering the lives of others”.
A controversial project, the A69 motorway construction site has been sparking tensions for several months.
Two ZADs have already been dismantled by the police last October and January.