During the anti-basins demonstrations in Sainte Soline last March, two people were arrested after being chemically marked by the gendarmes. This device raises questions about individual freedoms.
During anti-basin protests in Sainte-Soline in March 2023, law enforcement used “coded marking products” (PMC) to arrest two people they suspected of having participated in violence. These PMCs contain a liquid invisible to the naked eye and odorless contains synthetic DNA, which can remain on clothes for years. This device is controversial and raises questions about individual freedoms in France.
1 In what forms do these “coded marking products” (PMC) come?
These PMCs essentially come in two forms: either a spray or balls that are fired using a compressed air rifle. AT Sainte-Soline, these balls were used, according to the gendarmerie, in the sector where the police were the target of the most serious violence. How does it work ? A ball is therefore fired at a demonstrator spotted by the police. This ball contains a liquid invisible to the naked eye and odorless, but which contains a substance, which is colored when it is illuminated with an ultraviolet lamp. In this substance, there is also a synthetic DNA, a DNA specific to each marble and which can remain for years on the clothes. This is how, once the demonstration is over, during a check for example, the police can identify the demonstrators they have marked.
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2 Are these PMCs accurate?
Clément, a journalist, believes that he has paid the price for the precision problems of coded marking products. He is one of two people arrested in Sainte-Soline because of this device. He is categorical: he did not participate in the violence, he was doing his job by being close to the clashes. “What’s pretty crazy is that it’s really this little brand of marking product coded on my hand that is at the origin of my police custody”, he explains to our colleagues from France Culture.
“This product would dry in five minutes, which means that I might have been in contact with something or someone who would have been targeted by these PMCs during the Sainte-Soline demonstration.
Clément, a journalist arrested in Sainte-Solineat France Culture
“It doesn’t seem to be working very well, adds Clement, if we can end up with this substance on our hands because we have touched something or someone, that raises many questions. This drying time of five minutes and therefore this possible transmission of the product to a third party is confirmed in documents from the Ministry of Justice that franceinfo has been able to consult.
3 What legal framework for these PMCs?
These coded marking products are most often used in the context of burglaries, or monitoring valuables, for example. But arrests during demonstrations is a first in France. AT so much so that Clément’s lawyer, Maître Chloé Chalot, found herself quite helpless when faced with the use of this device against her client. “I have not been able to find any information on the framework for the use of PMCs. I have not been given any in custody, I have not been told exactly under what circumstances, indicates Me Chalot. I did not find any publication on the protocols of use, on tests, on the purchase of materials, on the fact of knowing what materials were used, what precautions we took, what we did with this information then. I don’t have any items.”
“As a lawyer, this raises real questions for me and, above all, I would like to know in what context, why and on what exact terms my client was deprived of his liberty for 28 hours. He was placed in police custody simply because of a trace of a product for which I have no information.”
Master Chloe Chalotat franceinfo
Franceinfo managed to obtain some information from the Ministries of Interior and Justice. On the Place Beauvau side, it is specified that it was not Minister Gérald Darmanin who decided to set up these coded marking products in Sainte-Soline. It is not a device for maintaining order, but for investigation. Clearly, these marking techniques are not intended to be used regularly in demonstrations.
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In Deux-Sèvres, it would therefore be a local decision, but taken by whom? Either by the gendarmes, or by the prosecutor of Niort, who did not wish to answer our questions. But the Ministry of Justice confirms to us that these PMCs are investigative techniques among others. Traces do not constitute irrefutable proof, they must be supported by other elements. Finally, the ministry confirms to us that there are no files created with these synthetic DNAs spotted on suspects.