PROTESTS: After preventing a meeting of the Nupes on Wednesday evening, several dozen individuals spent the night in the concert hall against the pension reform
- Occupied by opponents of the pension reform since Wednesday evening February 8, the hall of the City was evacuated this Thursday morning at the request of the city.
- The police were very numerous to surround the theatre and evacuate the people who had taken refuge on the roof.
- The evacuation took place through the firefighters’ basket after the occupants refused to take the stairs. The municipality filed a complaint.
The response from the authorities will not be long in coming. Since 11 a.m. this Thursday morning, the police have been intervening to evacuate the Salle de la Cité in Rennes, which has been occupied by several dozen students since Wednesday evening. Property of the municipality, the room would have been damaged by the occupants. In particular, tags were discovered on the walls of the performance hall. According to Mayor Nathalie Appéré, “equipment was stolen” and “damage was committed”. The city will file a complaint.
Taking advantage of a meeting of the Nupes, which had to be cancelled, a group of 200 demonstrators burst into the room before occupying it. About fifty people spent the night in the square. The owner of the premises, the city of Rennes immediately requested the assistance of the police “to have the premises evacuated as soon as possible. »
The occupants taking refuge on the roof
Since 11 a.m. this Thursday, the intervention has mobilized several dozen gendarmes mobile units and police. Firefighters were called in to help evacuate the occupants via the large ladder. Twenty-seven people were on the roof of the building, refusing to leave the premises. “We asked them to come down the stairs but they refused. The place is very narrow, ”explained Elise Dabouis, chief of staff to the prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine. The occupants asked to be able to leave without identity checks. They won’t have won. On their descent from the firefighters’ basket, the occupants were escorted inside the hall of the Cité for an identity check. Of the 26 people arrested, three were taken into custody for refusing to submit to fingerprinting. Six minors were also returned to their parents.
The means deployed were very substantial with several dozen gendarmes, police officers and firefighters mobilized. Officials from the BAC were also mobilized, in addition to teams deployed in Place Sainte-Anne, where a few dozen people were gathered in support of people stuck in the City. “Our only goal was to get everyone down safely. Everything happened without violence, that’s the main thing, ”said Elise Dabouis. This Thursday, a torchlight rally is announced by the Sud Ptt union to protest against the pension reform.
Formerly Maison du Peuple, the hall of the City had already been occupied for several days by students in 2016 at the time of the Labor law. The Raid teams had intervened to evacuate the premises.
