While the route of the Olympic flame will be unveiled on June 23, franceinfo has obtained a note that the Ministry of the Interior sent to the prefects on April 28.
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The Olympic flame for the Paris Games will land in France on May 8, 2024 in Marseille. His career is not yet known. But part of its securing, yes. In a note addressed to the prefects on April 28 and which franceinfo obtained, the Minister of the Interior gives his instructions. In this eight-page document, Gérald Darmanin details the securing ofare “itineraries of the flame as well as events in the stopover towns” which will spreadfor three months, with an average of “160 handovers” carried out daily, between 8 a.m. and 7:30 p.m..
Each day, four cities will be crossed by what the document calls the “main convoy”. This one “takes the form of a running relay over a segment of 4 to 5 km with a change of carriers every 200 meters”. At the end of the day, “Ihe last city crossed will have to host the lighting ceremony of the cauldron”. Also every day, “three iconic sites” will be visited by a secondary convoy, says “spiders”. This, it is written, must be “adapted to the configuration of the premises”. “The relay can just as well be a running race over a short distance of less than a kilometer or a simple presentation of the lantern in a symbolic place or with an atypical mode of locomotion”. Important clarification: the movement of the two convoys (main and secondary) between the towns crossed “takes place without the flame being visible to the public”.
Securing “under the responsibility of local security services”
In this memo, we also learn that thea securing the route of the flame “is placed under the responsibility of local security services, possibly reinforced by national means and municipal police”.
“It is necessary that the local authority concerned design security measures that are both robust and proportionate.”
Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interiorin a note addressed to the prefects
On page 2 of the document entitled “Securing the Olympic Torch Relay”, the Minister of the Interior clarified: “In addition to the vigilance regarding the risks and threats weighing on this type of event, I ask you to pay particular attention to the movements of protests and claims likely to bring out actions with high media visibility. Before adding further: “The objective is an optimal level of security making it possible to reconcile the festive aspect of the event and the consideration of risks and threats”.
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