Questioned on BFM-TV on Monday May 8, the Paris police chief, Laurent Nuñez, assumed that he had not banned the demonstration of the ultra-right in Paris on Saturday. The senior official maintained that this would have required him to "demonstrate" not only the existence of risks of disturbance to public order, but also "that with the police forces at [he] have, [ he] would not be able to contain this violence and outbursts”.
According to the authorities, nearly 600 activists from the May 9 Committee demonstrated in the capital's 6th arrondissement to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the accidental death of Sébastien Deyzieu, a far-right activist, in 1994. These demonstrators, dressed black and often masked, exhibited black flags marked with the Celtic cross and chanted "Europe, youth, revolution", the slogan of the GUD (Groupe d'union defense), noted Agence France-Presse.
Video surveillance
Mr. Nuñez argued that at a previous far-right rally in February, commemorating the violently suppressed February 6, 1934 nationalist protests, he issued a banning order, which was overturned in court. “It was considered that I did not sufficiently demonstrate that there was a risk of disturbing public order (…) And (…) with the police forces at my disposal [I was not ] able to contain it,” the senior official recalled.
In addition, regarding the death of Sébastien Deyzieu, "this commemoration has always taken place every year and has never caused any disturbance of public order, which is why I made this decision not to 'ban,'" Mr. Nuñez explained.
He stressed that the police were present around the procession, from a distance. Several demonstrators hid their faces: "Why weren't they arrested? “Asked the BFM-TV journalist. “It is an offense under the anti-breakers law when it is established that one hides one's face in order to commit abuses, violence and disturbances of public order; it was not the case that day,” replied the police chief, adding that he intended to review the CCTV images again to confirm this interpretation.
No "leniency"
“I refer you to the movements organized by the anti-fascist movement: until proven otherwise, they take place in the same way and we do not intervene, we do not prohibit; we frame and we intervene only when there is violence and excesses, ”added Laurent Nuñez.
The official called "absolutely unacceptable" criticism accusing the police of being more tolerant of the far right than the far left. "Since 2017, we have more than a dozen files that have been opened and which are managed by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office, we have dissolved several ultra-right structures, so it is wrong to say that we are showing leniency", he argued, assuring that the police are monitoring this movement "very, very closely".
