the vital prognosis of a protester committed following the clashes on Saturday, reports the prosecution

The vital prognosis is engaged for one of the demonstrators injured during the clashes which broke out on Saturday around a disputed water reserve under construction in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres), confirmed Sunday March 26 the Niort prosecution.

>> “Mega-basins”: demonstrators and gendarmes injured, mortar fire, burned vehicles… What happened on Saturday in Sainte-Soline?

An investigation has been opened “to determine the exact nature” serious injuries to three protesters in total and “the circumstances in which” these people were injured during clashes with the police, prosecutor Julien Wattebled said in a press release. The organizers of the demonstration said since Saturday that one of them was between life and death.

Seven protesters injured

According to a statement provided Saturday at the end of the day by the Niort prosecutor’s office, the emergency services took care of seven injured demonstrators, including three treated in absolute urgency and hospitalized; 28 gendarmes were injured, including two hospitalized in absolute emergency. Two journalists were also hit.

Five months after their last mobilization, the Bassines non merci collective, the environmental movement Les Uprisings of the Earth and the Confédération paysanne have undertaken to relaunch the protest against a controversial project to create a “water basin” in Deux-Sèvres. This installation aims to store water drawn from surface groundwater in winter, in order to irrigate crops in summer when rainfall is scarce.