Between 1,600 and 1,700 gendarmes deployed, and a ban on movement for people outside the department: the Deux-Sèvres prefecture is pulling out all the stops, in view of the “anti-basin” demonstrations planned for Saturday and Sunday around Sainte-Soline. Several thousand opponents of a water reserve project for agriculture have planned to go, despite an order banning the demonstration, to the sector all weekend.
Even if the ban on demonstrations covers the perimeter of twelve municipalities, the organizers of this rally, the collective “Bassines Non Merci”, have already announced the presence of 10,000 people. The authorities estimate that they could be “4,000 to 5,000”.
Breach of “the fundamental freedom to demonstrate”
Thursday evening, in a column published on the site Release, nearly 200 elected officials, lawyers or professors denounced a breach of “the fundamental freedom to demonstrate”. “By persisting in this way in trying, in vain, to stifle a legitimate mobilization, the prefecture and the services of the State produce the conditions for a major disturbance of public order”, can we read.
Among the signatories, elected officials from La France insoumise (LFI) and EELV such as Mathilde Panot, Clémentine Autain, Alexis Corbière or Yannick Jadot. Some of them will be expected for the event this weekend. In addition, a summary freedom has been filed by the organizers with the court of Poitiers. A hearing will be held Friday morning.
The police force will begin to be deployed “from now on”, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, specifying that “Saturday, 1,700 gendarmes will be on site, and 1,600 on Sunday”. The authorities believe, according to a source familiar with the matter, that the opponents of this reserve aim to create a ZAD at this location.
water battle
The Sainte-Soline sector is at the heart of a battle for water between farmers and around fifty environmental associations, trade unions and anti-capitalist groups, who denounce a “grabbing of water”, which is drawn in groundwater to be stored, and destined for “agro-industry”.
The Sainte-Soline reserve is the second of the 16 planned in the project drawn up by a group of 400 farmers united in the Water Coop, to “reduce withdrawals by 70%” in summer.
Clashes on March 26
In addition to the ban on demonstrations, the “circulation of agricultural machinery isolated or in procession” is also prohibited between Saturday and Monday morning, as is “the sale, transport and use of fireworks, fuel, acids and flammable, chemical or explosive products” as well as the “carrying and transporting of weapons of all categories”, had specified, at the beginning of the week, the prefecture.
On March 26, a demonstration bringing together between 5,000 and 7,000 people in La Rochénard was marred by clashes between gendarmes and opponents of water reserves, without causing any injuries. Damage to agricultural facilities had been recorded.