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A69 motorway: the UN rapporteur visits the site to observe the methods of maintaining order
A69 motorway: the UN rapporteur goes to the site to observe the methods of maintaining order – (FRANCEINFO)
The situation is so tense between opponents of the A69 motorway project and the authorities that the UN went to the site on Thursday February 22. The special rapporteur for environmental defenders will be present on the construction site, after denouncing alarming methods of maintaining order.
Perched high, they call themselves squirrels. Activists have been living in cabins in Saix (Tarn) for several days. They are fighting against the felling of trees that stand on the A69 construction site. The authorities want to dislodge them. To try to get them down, a basket was sent. The activists created a zone to défendre (ZAD), Crém’arbre, which has become one of the epicenters of the battle for the environment.
Tensions with the police
Tensions are sometimes high between the police and activists, who exchange stone throwing And tear gas grenades. “It makes me sad to see that this area is considered to have a high ecological stake, and that tear gas is being sent in, even though there are protected species.“, deplores Thomas Braille, founder of the national tree monitoring group. The construction of the A69 mobilizes beyond the French borders: a little over a week ago, the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg visited on the spot.
