Justice limits the use of drones for the demonstration in Le Havre

The administrative court of Rouen partially suspends the prefectural decree which authorized the use of drones to monitor the demonstration of May 1 in Le Havre, learned Sunday April 30 franceinfo via the order of the administrative court. The drones will only be able to fly over the procession from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and not from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. as the prefecture wished. Concerning the overflown area, the court validates the overflight of a more restricted area than that of the prefecture.

In its order, the court considers that the decree of the prefect exceeds in time and space the need to ensure the security of the demonstration. Note that, according to the Twitter account of the national police of Seine-Maritime, the demonstration must start at 10 a.m. from the Maison des Syndicats in Le Havre.

Two drones will be deployed

In a press release shared on Sunday evening and consulted by franceinfo, the prefecture of Seine-Maritime takes note of the court decision and specifies that “two drones” will be deployed in Le Havre within the perimeter defined by the courts, “to ensure the security of the May Day demonstrations”.

The use of these drones is not unanimous, in addition to this interim release, at least three others have been filed. A first was rejected by the administrative court of Lyon which did not recognize the urgent nature of the appeal. A second will be examined Monday at 8 a.m. in Bordeaux and a third Monday at 9 a.m. in Paris.