In tribute to Rémi Fraisse

Dear Val

Late yesterday afternoon we went for a walk round the old part of Gaillac followed by a coffee sitting in the Place de la Libération in the centre of town, near the Monument aux Morts. 

A small group of about 10-15 people gathered and started to place ribbons around two trees with candles and hanging representations of trees, flowers, frogs and the like, from a cord suspended between the two trees in front of the monument.  A woman explained that it was a memorial to Rémi Fraisse, the 21 year old botanist who was killed a year ago tonight at the Sivens Dam protest.  She said that the actions of the gendarmes had been disproportionate to the protest and one of 30 stun grenades thrown by the gendarmes had landed between his rucksack and his back and killed him. She told us that so far no member of the gendarmerie has been charged with his death although stun grenades were withdrawn from the Gendarmerie Nationale that same day.

This was a quiet group of mostly young people making a peaceful homage to this young man’s death.  The monument is inscribed:

LA VILLE DE GAILLAC

A SES ENFANTS

MORTS POUR LA FRANCE

ET LA DEFENSE

DE LA PAIX

In the 15-20 minutes that it took to assemble the tribute we noticed quite a few gendarmes had gathered and some were photographing the members of the group.  We wandered amongst them looking at the tributes then suddenly realised that about 40 or more riot police had quietly crossed the square from 7 blue vans and were lined up behind the group.  They pushed and manhandled the group out of the far end of the square then ripped up their tributes to Rémi Fraisse, while smaller groups  of police positioned themselves to stop any of the group returning via side streets.

This was a shocking and totally disproportionate action by gendarmes armed with pistols and “cougar” tear-gas launchers against a small group of mourners remembering a young man who died for his love of nature.

In the last picture you can just see Susan who moments before was surrounded by these two lines of riot police.

John

Val says John has sent many pictures of the huge numbers of gendarmes but Malc tells me it is illegal in France to photograph police without their permission.
Thank you for the story John

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