200 gendarmes deployed every day until Sunday, announces the prefecture

10,000 “teknivaliers” are gathered in the town of Villegongis (Indre), despite a prefectural ban. The prosecution has opened an investigation into the organization of this gathering.

Article written by

Published

Reading time : 1 min.

The prefect of Indre, Stéphane Bredin, shakes hands with the firefighters during the teknival organized on May 18, 2023 in Villegongis, despite the ban from the prefecture.  (GUILLAUME SOUVANT / AFP)

200 gendarmes will be deployed throughout the Teknival of Villegongis (Indre), until next Sunday, announced Thursday May 18 the prefect of the department Stéphane Bredin during a press conference which France Bleu Berry attended, at the the day after the arrival of around 10,000 festival-goers on a private estate in the town.

The prosecutor of the Republic of Châteauroux, Agnès Aubouin, announced to France Bleu Berry the opening of an investigation into the organization of this gathering, which had been prohibited by a prefectural decree. The procedure is automatic.

Reinforcement from Marseille and neighboring departments

Among the police mobilized, 120 are mobile gendarmes from Marseille and Blois, said the prefect of Indre who went to Villegongis at the end of the afternoon on Thursday. The Indre gendarmes have also received reinforcements from the gendarmeries of neighboring departments. In addition, a command post has been set up next to Villegongis town hall, while a first aid station has been set up to be able to take care of festival-goers who need it. It is managed by the fire brigade and the Samu.

According to the organizers, eleven associations and 130 volunteers are present during this Teknival to inform participants about the risks associated with taking narcotics and alcohol, and alcohol tests are made available.


source site-30