Six men are accused of having wanted to disrupt a conference on the reception of migrants organized in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique) on September 23, in an extremely tense context, four months after the fire of the mayor’s house.
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At the trial of six ultra-right activists, at the Saint-Nazaire court, Tuesday March 5, the prosecution requested a six-month suspended prison sentence for each of the defendants, reports France Bleu Loire-Océan. They are accused of having wanted to disrupt the conference on the reception of migrants organized in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique) on September 23. The judgment, reserved, will be rendered on May 7.
The prosecution also requested a three-year ban on approaching the municipality and the obligation to complete a citizenship course. In detail, these six men aged 21 to 29 are being prosecuted for participation in a group with a view to preparing violence or destruction. Two of them are also being prosecuted for transporting a bladed weapon without legitimate reason.
The question of “maintaining social peace”
When these six young people, from Rennes and Angers, were arrested on the Saint-Nazaire bridge, a knife and cutters were found in the trunk of their car or on their belt. A telescopic baton, a baseball bat and a mouthguard were also discovered. If the defendants denied having wanted to fight, they did, however, assume their opinions. Defense lawyers cited a “free procedure based on the offense of facial appearance which the court cannot condone”. The gendarmes who arrested their clients were accused of having wanted “to be fascists”. These same lawyers pleaded for the nullity of the entire procedure on the grounds that“there is zero violence” and relaxes her.
The prosecution observed that this security agent, this maintenance technician, this employee in the building and these students “are socially integrated” and have “clean criminal records”. It prevents, “the question underlying this issue is that of maintaining social peace”. On the day of their arrest, demonstrations were prohibited in Saint-Brevin by several orders.
The conference on the reception of migrants organized in this seaside resort was held when tension was at its peak on site: four months after the fire in the house of the mayor, Yannick Morez, and a few weeks before the opening of the new reception center for asylum seekers (CADA) in the town, contested by the far right.
