Tolerance 0, asserts Gérald Darmanin.
The Minister of the Interior commented on the situation around the A69.
Opponents of the motorway project between Toulouse and Castres have installed a “Zone to defend” and are camping in the trees in Saïx, in Tarn.
“The police have been facing great violence for several days from those seeking to reconstitute a new ZAD on the A69 work site,” described Gérald Darmanin on his X account. be thanked.
Respect for state authority and court decisions is at stake.
No ZAD will be tolerated.
»
For several days, the police have been facing great violence from those seeking to reconstitute a new ZAD on the A69 work site.
May they be thanked.
It is about respecting the authority of the State and court decisions.…
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) February 18, 2024
On Saturday evening, dozens of police officers had completely surrounded the trees on which activists, who feared imminent expulsion, were camped, AFP journalists noted.
The police, “around a hundred” at the end of the afternoon, according to the prefecture, blocked access to the ZAD woods, created by opponents of this controversial project in the hope of preventing felling. of these trees located on the route of the future highway.
Complaint from associations
Kept away from the woods, around thirty activists encouraged those remaining at the top of the trees, called the “squirrels”: “Hold on!
", " Thanks for what you do !
» Others played music or spoke poems.
In the trees, 18 activists still occupied the cabins on Saturday evening, according to Thomas Digard, from the Voie est libre collective, present on site.
The prefecture estimated their number at “around ten” on Friday.
“It is impossible to resupply them but they have enough to last,” Thomas Digard told AFP.
The police “installed searchlights last night.
They threw tear gas grenades and they took turns regularly,” he added.
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.
The associations also claimed to have filed a complaint against X for “voluntarily endangering the lives of others”.
The “Uprisings of the Earth” collective announced that a demonstration in support of the ZAD, “in solidarity with excessive repression”, would be held this Sunday.