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In a confidential note that franceinfo consulted, the Ministry of the Interior lists all the threats, day by day, place by place.
“We are happy that the flame is coming to our territories. But we will also be happy when it leaves for the neighbors…” These words dropped between two doors by the chief of staff of a prefecture in the west of France testify to the stress and pressure which accompany the arrival of the Olympic flame on French soil, from Wednesday May 8 to Marseilles. “No one wants to be the department where the event goes wrong”repeats the senior official.
It is in fact the start of another test for the authorities, local authorities and organizers: securing an open-air relay over a distance equivalent to three times the Tour de France (12,000 km), which crosses more than 60 departments and whose route is known in advance. A co noteThe confidential information from the Ministry of the Interior dated January gives a fairly precise overview of the state of the threat. His title : “Risk analysis and assessment relating to torch relays”. In this fifteen-page document, which Franceinfo was able to consult, the main “flocal areas of protest“ which could emerge between now and the final lighting of the Olympic cauldron on July 26 in Paris.
So, on May 15, “the problem of drought and water use restrictions implemented since the summer of 2023 could be at issue“rigin of actions” during the crossing of the Pyrénées-Orientales. “As suchthe document continues, the RN 116, the main road axis of the relay, is likely to encourage attempted actions and blockages.” Two days later, on May 17, the A69 motorway project between Castres and Toulouse could disrupt passage through Haute-Garonne. “Activists opposed to this highway project are likely to want to disrupt the relay”warns the note.
Megabasins are mentioned three times. First, on May 24 and 25, with the passage of the flame in Charente and Vienne. Then, ten days later, on June 2, on the occasion of the crossing of Deux-Sèvres: “The opposition to megabasin projects, under the aegis of the BNM 79 collective, the Peasant Confederation and the Earth Uprising movement, has demonstrated to several its proven violent potential”anticipates the document, with reference to the demonstration of March 2023.
“A miracle if there are no overflows”
On page 2, the document recalls that the torch relay “been almost systematically the target of disruptions during the various recent Olympics”. In July 2021, in Japan, a protester attempted to extinguish the Olympic flame using a water gun, during the torch relay in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan. Five years earlier, in July 2016, in Brazil, it was with a fire extinguisher that an individual disrupted the convoy near Sao Paulo. In London in 2012, a man with a bucket of water was seen in the crowd.
“If there are no excesses during this relay, it would still be a miracle”went so far as to bet a police commissioner based in Paris, contacted by franceinfo a few weeks ago. “We are convinced that it will happen, recognized Tony Estanguet himself, Tuesday evening, a few hours before the arrival of the flame in the Old Port. The Games are a sounding board. It’s all about making the right decisions in the moment. We have anticipated scenarios and there are things we would not have imagined…”
It is also that the last experience on French soil is a bad memory for the authorities: in April 2008, the passage of the flame through Paris before the Beijing Games had to be interrupted after incidents with demonstrators denouncing China’s policy in Tibet. To avoid this fiasco, a “bubble” of 115 police officers and gendarmes will permanently supervise the flame throughout its journey, to which will be added around a hundred mobile forces.
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“An opportunity to highlight local struggles”
In addition to the place and day, the Interior Ministry document also lists potential troublemakers. In its sights in particular, environmentalist associations, including Saccage 2024, Food Response, Earth Uprisings and Extinction Rebellion. “It’s obvious that the torch relay is the opportunity for possible actions to confront the government with its contradictions on its so-called environmental exemplarity”says Thomas, a long-time Extinction Rebellion activist. What types of action? “You will see…” Banner displays? “You will see…” he repeats.
“We should not move because it’s the Olympics, because it’s the flame? Surely not.”
Thomas, Extinction Rebellion activistat franceinfo
“The Olympic flame is indeed an opportunity to shed light on all local struggles wherever it passesconfirms Julien Le Guet, spokesperson for the Bassines non merci (BNM) collective. Mr. Darmanin, on the other hand, is wrong to focus on us. I want to remind him that 150 local Earth Uprising committees have been formed since the threat of dissolution last summer. And everyone is free to act when they wants, where he wants.“
At Saccage 2024, we do not hide the holding of preparation meetings. They even take place once a month in Ile-de-France. On the other hand, “we are very surprised” and even “tired of being cited as a potential danger by the Interior Ministrytakes offense Anaëlle, member of the collective. This is to misunderstand our mode of action. Until now, we have always limited ourselves to information work, distributing leaflets for example. OWe just want to keep the public informed of the reality of these Olympics.”
Some collectives could even carry out their mission as close as possible to the event: according to our information, several activists tried to evade administrative controls and applied to become torch bearers. Their identity is kept secret, as is the day, the place and their future mode of action.