On the banks of the Saône in Lyon, March 31, 2021. – PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP
Two individuals posing as the organizers of the wild party which brought together 300 people on Tuesday on the quays of the Saône in Lyon were taken into custody after surrendering to the police, we learned Friday from the Lyon public prosecutor’s office.
“Two brothers aged 26 and 22 are currently being heard by the police for endangering the lives of others and non-compliance with the measures decreed in the context of the state of health emergency,” told AFP. public prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet, specifying that the investigations were continuing to identify possible other organizers.
“It is important for us to take responsibility for our actions”
“We decided to go to the Lyon police station on Friday April 2 following the investigation which was opened by the public prosecutor. It is important for us to take responsibility for our actions and their consequences, ”says one of the two self-proclaimed organizers in an audio recording broadcast by the cultural information site Le Petit Bulletin.
In this same extract of 38 seconds, on which the voices were modified, his brother denounces “a media relentlessness”. “Our approach today is to stop any speculation against us and we are leaving ourselves in the hands of Justice. Following this survey, we will communicate more precisely on the why and how, ”concludes the message.
Alcohol consumption in parks now prohibited
Tuesday evening, images showing young participants and most often unmasked drinking and dancing on the sunny Saône quays had aroused many reactions. The prefect of the Rhône seized the public prosecutor’s office on Tuesday evening, according to article 40 of the code of criminal procedure, after having described in a tweet the gathering as “irresponsible and unacceptable”. He then specified that, “given the proximity of the Saône and the danger that an intervention would have created”, the police had been asked not to intervene.
While the party, with music and drinks, ended a little before 8 p.m., beyond the curfew schedule, participants told an AFP journalist that they had heard of the event on social networks. Thursday evening, the Rhône prefecture issued a decree prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in the parks and gardens of the metropolis of Lyon until Sunday, May 2.