Antoine Copra estimated that the fire at the town hall of Limoges could have been avoided if France had adopted a preventive measure comparable to that of the Netherlands. According to him, Dutch authorities can prohibit certain violent individuals from participating in demonstrations and require them to report to the police station on the day of the gathering. He stated that the main suspect in the fire, whom he described as being on an S-file, a potentially violent far-left activist who was convicted on appeal for violence against a police officer in 2024, could have been subject to such a measure. Copra recalled that in 2019, Bruno Retailleau (LR) had passed a law allowing, among other things, to individually prohibit a person from demonstrating, with the support of the Philippe government and the vote of the Senate and the Assembly. He indicated that parliamentarians, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), Valérie Rabault (PS), André Chassaigne (PCF), Philippe Vigier (UDI), and socialist senators led by Patrick Kanner, as well as Emmanuel Macron, had referred the matter to the Constitutional Council. The Council, then presided over by Laurent Fabius, had censored the provision, he wrote. He also argued that maintaining order in France relied on more violent repression means compared to elsewhere, while offering fewer tools to neutralize looters and "black blocs." He specifically mentioned the prohibition of masking, defense bullets, and explosive grenades, and referred to his latest article for Le Média. #France #sécurité #manifestations (translated)
