It was not a new Sainte-Soline. Saturday June 17, when all gatherings had been banned by the prefect of Savoie, François Ravier, on the territory of nine municipalities in the department, more than 4,000 demonstrators according to the organizers, who speak of a success – more than 3,000 according to the prefecture – marched to oppose the project for a new Lyon-Turin railway line and the mega tunnel which must be dug between the Maurienne valley in France and the Val de Susa in Italy. A project which must, according to its promoters, reduce the pollution caused by the traffic of heavy goods vehicles in the valley, and whose opponents denounce the cost and environmental impacts.
But contrary to the fears expressed by the authorities the previous days, this militant meeting, co-organized by a dozen organizations including the Uprisings of the Earth, and the Italian No-TAV (No al treno ad alta velocity) – in the Val de Suse, the latter have opposed the project for thirty years – did not give rise to clashes comparable to those which took place in Deux-Sèvres in March during the mobilization against the mega-basins , but a few scuffles.
Around 3 p.m., the security forces – 2,000 gendarmes and police officers who were positioned in the area, with an incessant low-altitude flight of helicopters and drones – fired the first tear gas canisters, in response to the stones thrown at them from the front rows of the procession.
The exchanges of projectiles lasted several hours, often sporadically, and some injuries are to be deplored, in particular to the legs on the demonstrators’ side. As the procession began to retreat, a few dozen activists, stranded on a secondary road, under a blazing sun, having failed to negotiate a route with the authorities, crossed the Arc River on foot to reach the highway. located on the other side. The police quickly intervened to drive them out of the A43, using tear gas.
“The tunnel devastates the whole valley”
The prefect of Savoie reported, on Saturday evening, seven minor injuries on the side of the gendarmes and the police. “The safety of people and property was generally ensured”, he welcomed. According to François Ravier, from 300 to 400 “Radicals have formed a black bloc”. And the checks carried out since Friday evening would have made it possible to seize a hundred“weapons by destination” (hammers, knives, etc.). For their part, in a press release published overnight from Saturday to Sunday, the organizers mentioned “about fifty seriously injured, six hospitalizations, including two functional prognoses involved”.
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