Since August 30, the police have been tasked with evacuating opponents of the A69 motorway construction site that is to link Castres to Toulouse. The operation is over, announces the Tarn prefecture.
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End of the “deforestation operations” on the zone to defend (ZAD) of Cal’Arbre, in Saïx, announced the Tarn prefecture in a press release published on Friday, September 6. The police had been tasked since August 30 with evacuating opponents of the A69 motorway construction site which is to link Castres to Toulouse.
“More than 400 gendarmes and police officers have been deployed over the past week to carry out these operations”indicates the Tarn prefecture, which specifies that about twenty people were arrested. Two opponents were hospitalized after falling from a tree during this evacuation operation, franceinfo learned from the gendarmerie and activists. According to a message published in the activist loops, we can read that the unit arrived “discreetly” For “surprise and awaken” activists on their platform. “Faced with the pressure and the hunt, a 70km/h wind and the humidity of the morning, the two ZADists lost their support and fell more than 7 metres”, they assure. For its part, the gendarmerie indicates that these two falls are not “not linked to the action of the gendarmerie”The prefecture claims that the “two opponents (…) were slightly injured during the intervention” which consisted of bringing down three opponents of the A69 construction site.
“An opponent remains, alone, hanging on a single tree”adds the Tarn prefecture, estimating that the “clearing of this tree is not necessary for the continuation of the work” and that it could be done later. But the prefectural authority calls on this opponent of the A69 construction site to come down from the tree, “because the latter is fragile according to a report from the national forestry office, it threatens to collapse at any moment”says the Tarn prefecture.
The State also welcomes the fact that “the concessionaire has recovered full ownership of its land in the commune of Saïx” and warns that he “will intervene whenever necessary to prevent the illegal installation of new occupants.”
The Tarn prefecture prohibits “all gatherings” in the commune of Saix until Monday September 9 at noon.