He left his electoral reserve to deliver a clarification. “I did not give any order for the destruction of material,” said the Prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine Emmanuel Berthier in a very brief statement. The state representative has been in great demand since the publication of images of gendarmes destroying sound equipment during the evacuation of the Redon rave party on Saturday. A visibly illegal action that shocked the organizers, who assess the damage between 100,000 and 200,000 euros. On Monday, several of them expressed their dissatisfaction with 20 minutes, specifying that they were going to file a complaint. The day before, major clashes had opposed the revelers to the police. Several people had been injured. A 22-year-old Rennais lost his hand, probably picking up a tear gas grenade thrown by the gendarmes. Four people are the subject of legal proceedings.
The destruction of the material took place much later. While the music had ceased and the festive gathering ended, the mobile gendarmes surrounded tents where the equipment was housed. With ax and sledgehammer, they destroyed turntables, amplifiers, speakers and even generators that had been rented to local businesses. Photos of the damaged equipment were even posted on the Interior Ministry’s Twitter account on Saturday. “The only goal was to destroy. I’ve never seen that. Neither in France, nor even in Europe, ”regrets Victor Lacroix, representative of the Media’Son association.
#Redon #Teknival | On the spot, the police carried out the temporary seizure of the materials used, in particular the public address systems.
⚠️ The operation to evacuate the area is still in progress, avoid the area and follow the instructions of the authorities. pic.twitter.com/3mx9sZOaDW
– Ministry of the Interior (@Interieur_Gouv) June 19, 2021
In his press release, the prefect Emmanuel Berthier recalls that the intervention of the gendarmes was “an operation to maintain order in response to a prohibited gathering”. But promises that he did not give any order to destroy the material. The Rennes prosecutor’s office says the same thing and specifies that it simply requested the seizure of the equipment. Contacted, the gendarmerie struggles to explain. “During the evacuation, the gendarmes carried out a complex maneuver which, once started, had to be carried out quickly to ensure the safety of people,” explains a source familiar with the matter. “During the maneuver, there may have been broken equipment, damage. But the litigation could be reimbursed ”. The prefect says the same thing. “The justice will pronounce, if it is seized of possible litigation”, assures the prefect.
An order from the Ministry of the Interior?
But who could have given such an order? In the ranks of the party-goers, we do not hesitate to target the Ministry of the Interior headed by Gerald Darmanin. “Remember the treatment after the party in Lieuron. He didn’t really appreciate it, ”slip some participants. On New Year’s Eve, a teknival had gathered 2,500 people south of Rennes while France was still living under the constraints of Covid-19. The subject was invited to Minister Darmanin’s New Year’s table.
Used to defending the middle of the party, the lawyer Marianne Rostan fears that the already tense relations will become impossible between the police and the revelers. “We have the impression of going back fifteen years. There is a growing tension between the participants and the police and we have clearly reached a milestone this weekend. I wonder what it will look like in the future ”.