5,000 people checked since Monday, 400 dangerous objects seized

The Vienne prefecture banned “all demonstrations” on Friday in the commune of Saint-Sauvant and its surroundings, where opponents of the basins planned to gather.

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Gendarmes near the gathering of anti-bassine activists in Melle, July 17, 2024. (MATHIEU HERDUIN / MAXPPP)

Five thousand people were checked and 400 dangerous objects were seized near the “Water Village” in Deux-Sèvres, France Inter learned Wednesday from the Niort prosecutor while several thousand activists gathered until Sunday in Melle near Sainte-Soline to denounce the basins. The specter of violence looms once again in the department after the 2023 gatherings which had degenerated.

Among the 400 objects seized, the police have since Monday seized knives, iron bars, axes, petanque balls, fireworks and flammable liquids to make Molotov cocktails. In total, 277 gendarmes are monitoring the surroundings of the “Water Village”. Five thousand people have been checked, according to the latest figure recorded on Wednesday at 11 a.m., the prosecutor said.

In Deux-Sèvres, 118 gendarmes will be tasked solely with arresting and questioning troublemakers from Friday. A prefectural decree has been published banning all demonstrations in the department.

The Niort prosecutor called “quietly” andyou shared your story “worry” in view of the violence and scenes of guerrilla warfare which left dozens of police and protesters injured in March 2023.


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