“There is a last attempt to keep a gray area”, denounces this Thursday on franceinfo Pierre Barthélemy, lawyer for groups of supporters. During his hearing before the Senate to explain the incidents on the sidelines of the Champions League final on Saturday May 28, Erwan Le Prévost, director of institutional relations for the French Football Federation (FFF) declared that the CCTV footage from the Stade de France had been destroyed.
>> Videos deleted, “failure”, “too heavy hand of the police”: what to remember from the hearings in the Senate on the incidents at the Stade de France
“It’s quite surprising”, reacts Pierre Barthélémy. These images have been erased because the Bobigny prosecutor’s office has not received any complaint concerning the violence at the Stade de France. The lawyer is surprised that there is “was in a rush to file a complaint for this story of counterfeit notes” but no one is “concerned about the fate of supporters who are victims of very serious attacks and repeated thefts”. Pierre Bathélémy sees it as a maneuver “to cover up this false argument of counterfeit bills.”
franceinfo: During this hearing in the Senate, we learned that the images of the evening were automatically destroyed by the Stade de France. Does that surprise you?
Pierre Barthelemy: Yes, it’s very surprising because there was a rush to file a complaint, from Saturday evening or Sunday morning, for this story of counterfeit notes. Then, we learn today that throughout the evening at PC security, they found that they witnessed scenes of extreme violence but no legal proceedings were initiated by the police headquarters or by other people present. What follows after seven days is the disappearance of the videos. So, it looks like the legal process was only used to cover up this bogus argument of counterfeit bills. But that at no time, we cared about the fate of the supporters whom we saw for hours on video surveillance tapes, victims of very serious attacks and repeated thefts.
You heard, the summaries of the hearings in the Senate this Thursday. Were you convinced by the different protagonists?
The police chief was rather convincing. He saw that it was a failure and no one can dispute that. We also have the feeling that he decided to serve as a fuse. He said that he was solely responsible, that all the things that may have been done on the ground or in communication are his doing and that the Minister (of the Interior) only defended. But it is still a change from the first political reactions just after the match. There is also a very strong element: he says that he assumes this figure of 40,000 counterfeit notes, but he assumes it without demonstrating it.
“He assumes to have given a bad figure and therefore a bad explanation for the incidents. On the other hand, he does not try to justify himself further.”
Pierre Barthélemy, lawyer for groups of supportersat franceinfo
And what surprised us a little is that in the afternoon the French Football Federation (FFF) left headlong on this story of counterfeit tickets. Figures that do not match those given by transport operators to the press. There is still this feeling of improvisation and amateurism everywhere. Which led not only to the problems on game night but also to these repeated miscommunications and this crisis management fiasco for almost two weeks now.
Do you feel like the truth has been covered up?
I believe there is no longer any doubt. It’s been two weeks since they announced that there will be evidence on this story of counterfeit notes. But they fail to demonstrate. The numbers change from week to week, from person to person. I think that today, all the work that has been done, in particular by the French and British press, to collect videos, testimonies and figures from transport operators or other people present on the spot, clearly demonstrates that it was not this story of 30 to 40,000 counterfeit tickets, but that it was indeed a problem of managing the flow of supporters from the exit of the RER D to the pre-filtering points of the stadium. There is a kind of last attempt before the legislative elections to keep a gray area, but this gray area is now becoming very clear for everyone.