Before demonstrating, anti-basin activists meet in Deux-Sèvres

A year after Sainte-Soline, anti-basin activists are protesting Friday against a new project in Migné-Auxances, a suburb of Poitiers (Vienne). The convoy leaves from the “water village” in Melle in Deux-Sèvres, under heavy police surveillance.

A year and a half after the violent demonstration in Sainte-Soline, anti-water basin activists are meeting again to protest against these agricultural water reservoirs. This time, they are meeting on Friday, July 19 in Migné-Auxances, in the suburbs of Poitiers, in Vienne, where one of these basins is planned. The convoy leaves from the “water village” where some of the activists have settled, in Melle, in Deux-Sèvres. All under high surveillance.

More than 3,000 police officers and gendarmes are mobilized and have cordoned off the area. Checks are carried out when getting off the train, in the stations in Niort or Poitiers, or on the roads when arriving in Melle. In the air, helicopters fly over this “water village”, with its marquees, campsites and restaurants. “It’s a small festival!”exclaims one participant.

This XXL deployment of law enforcement almost amuses Julie. “There is still a dichotomy between what is experienced by the prefecture, which says that there were 400 objects that were seized. In fact, among the objects that were seized, a friend told me that they seized her daughter’s noise-canceling headphones, another had the chocks of her caravan seized, another her gardening gloveslists the protester. I think it’s a strategy to try to increase the pressure, to try to make the gathering appear violent.”

“If you have been on the site for several days, you can see that there is not an ounce of violence in what is being organized.”

Julie, anti-basin activist

to franceinfo

The main demand of those taking part in the convoy: a moratorium and a pause in the basin projects. For Francis, these water reservoirs are an aberration. “For us, it is a hoarding of water by a minority of farmers. Here, on the Sainte-Soline basin, there are only 12 farmers. We realize that these basins, when they have been created elsewhere like in Spain for example, we no longer have the means to fill them since the water tables no longer provide water. The only thing to calm things down and restore dialogue is this moratorium.”

“When the Human Rights League says that the use of weapons was disproportionate in Sainte-Soline, it must be heard.”

Sylvain Griffault, Mayor of Melle

to franceinfo

The mayor of Melle, Sylvain Griffault, rightly advocates dialogue. He is the one who allowed the anti-basins to settle in his commune. And some farmers accuse him of adding fuel to the fire. “What happened in Sainte-Soline last year was dramatic. But I think we have to look at both sides of the violence. There was, indeed, violence from people who had infiltrated this very family-oriented demonstration, and there was also institutional violence that the Human Rights League denounced.“ The Human Rights League has also deployed around fifty observers to monitor these demonstrations.