Violent clashes broke out on Saturday in Sainte-Soline between the police and the opponents of the construction of a water reservoir for agricultural irrigation.
By (with AFP)
The dreaded scenario of a violent confrontation between opponents of basins and police occurred again, Saturday October 29, in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres). With an intensity greater than the clashes that had enamelled the “Printemps market garden” organized last March at the other end of this same department, in the village of La Rochénard. This time, the demonstrators report around thirty injured, victims according to them of projectiles of tear gas shots and defense ball launchers (LBD) including some “in the head”. “61 gendarmes were injured, including 22 seriously,” said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Saturday evening. The Deux-Sèvres prefecture brought back six arrests earlier.
The confrontation seemed predictable with regard to the unfailing determination of the opponents of the sixteen substitution reserves for agricultural irrigation, the first of which was carried out at La Rochénard and the second is under construction in Sainte- SOLINE. But also because of the forces present this Saturday: more than 4,000 demonstrators (7,000 according to the organizers) against nearly 1,700 soldiers, equipped on the ground with many vehicles and an air support of six helicopters. Neither the prohibition signified to CGT and Solidaires unions, depositaries of the declaration prior to the demonstration, by the prefect Emmanuelle Dubée, nor the impressive deployment of gendarmes around the perimeter prevented thousands of people from responding to the call of Collective “Bassines no thank you” and from the movement “earthwoods”.
“No Bassaran!”
The protest had even started the day before on Friday at La Rochelle, with, on the initiative of the Confédération Paysanne, a rally of around fifty people in front of the entrance to the Grand Port Maritime de la Pallice and blocking from the Ile de Ré bridge. After an evening with a “festive” atmosphere on the camp set up in the open field, in Sainte-Soline, demonstrators converged from all over France on Saturday morning to the cry of “No Bassaran!”, Counting among them the Ecologist Yannick Jadot, the deputies Europe Ecologie-Les Verts Sandrine Rousseau and Lisa Belluco, their colleague from the European Parliament Benoît Biteau or the deputy La France Insoumise Manon Meunier. The ecological mayor of Poitiers, Léonore Moncond’Huy, reports the” New Republic “, received a fine of 135 euros while trying to join the base camp, without having “asserted its quality of elected or parliamentarian”.
You have 58.4% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.