In recent months, attacks to these representatives of the people multiplied on the margins of mobilizations against the measures taken by the Government in the fight against the epidemic of COVID-19.
Le Monde
Bire garages and cars, threat of decapitation, seaweed lanes … In recent months, aggressions against elected officials have multiplied in the context of the mobilization against the restrictions imposed by the government in the fight against the epidemic of COVID-19. To protest against this situation, all the presidents of the political groups at the National Assembly arrived together Tuesday, January 11 in the hemicycle behind Richard Ferrand to denounce in unison the “rise of hatred” against elected representatives.
“These are the principles of democracy and the republic who are involved”, launched the President of the National Assembly at the beginning of the questions to the Government. “The National Assembly will always be alongside its threatened members, attacked in any form whatsoever, including on social networks,” prosecuted the Tribune Mr. Ferrand, elected from the Republic (LRM), in a solemn declaration.
“Members play an eminent role in the democratic life of our nation. (…) It is essential that all the means of the state are mobilized to ensure the safety of all candidates, as of all representatives of the nation whatever their commitment, and the serene conduct of the electoral debate. “
The nine presidents and group presidents within the hemicycle also signed together A forum in the Huffington Post , published Tuesday afternoon , to denounce the multiplication of violence against elected officials. “No democratic debate can unfold under the threat, do they write. The political disagreement does not justify violence. For all the voices to express themselves without fear, we rely on the justice of our country so that the authors of Threats, pressures and violence are quickly condemned. “
” It looked like a stoning “
These actions occur two days after the member for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon Stéphane Clareaux (LRM) was targeted by projectiles in front of his home by protesters against the health care. The member, who announced his intention to file a complaint, said he was waiting for the protesters, who had to pass “before [his] home”, “in order to be able to chat with them”. “There was a car that was loaded with seaweed, of Goémon, and people started to launch it. It looked like a stoning,” he continued. My wife came to join me on The steps of the house. I avoided 5 centimeters near a roller that went near the figure. “
At the end of December 2021, the personal garage of the member for Oise Pascal Bois (LRM), in Chambly, had been damaged by a fire, while hostile inscriptions, possibly related to the vaccinal pass, were tagged on the wall of his home.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced Tuesday morning that more than three hundred complaints for “death threats” have been filed by elected officials since July and the entry into force of the sanitary pass. “In this particular context of the AntiVax, there is a lot of repositories for threats,” said the minister on RTL. He stated that there were also threats “in the name of radical Islam” and “of all orders”, “but we see an exponential increase”. The Minister of the Interior will be received Tuesday night with the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, by the President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, to take a point on the number of cases identified and the judicial response provided.