In the Landes, Dax wants to do everything not to experience the nightmare of the deadly attack at the Bayonne Festival at the end of July. The Feria, which attracts more than 800,000 “festayres” (festival-goers) each year for five days, therefore opens this Friday under close surveillance.
“Security is our priority”, insisted last Friday the prefect of Landes, the mayor of Dax (center right) and the public prosecutor, during the presentation of the device, the day after the death of a 46-year-old man beaten on the first evening of the festivities in Bayonne, July 26. Police are still looking for the suspects, three men whom the victim had caught urinating outside his door.
Dax mobilizes “61 surveillance cameras”
“Everything is in place so that such an event does not happen again,” said the mayor of Dax Julien Dubois on Thursday, while keeping the spirit of the Holidays, with bandas, bodegas, shows, Landes races and bullfighting. . The City of Dax mobilizes “61 surveillance cameras”, an exceptional “extensive” device, he detailed.
“I guarantee an immediate criminal response”, for his part indicated the same day the public prosecutor of Dax Benoît Fontaine who is strengthening his on-call staff. Two magistrates and a registry are entirely devoted from August 11 to 15 to “all acts of violence specific to the Feria”, in particular sexual or sexist assaults, and rape, “one of the priorities” of the Dax prosecution.
Five rape investigations opened in Bayonne
Nearly 270 security force agents (police, gendarmes, soldiers from the Sentinels network, CRS) are deployed on average each day of the Feria, accompanied by as many firefighters, doctors, Samu and Red Cross volunteers. The operational command post will allow the images to be viewed in real time, and the police “to intervene as quickly as possible”, also explained the mayor of Dax.
In 2022, a man was tried in immediate appearance for a sexual assault, “thanks to video surveillance”, but there was no “open investigation for rape”, according to the prosecution. In all, 17 people had been placed in police custody according to figures from the Dax prosecution. In Bayonne, where the annual festivals this year saw a record attendance of 1.3 million “festayres”, five rape investigations were opened this year. During the Mont-de-Marsan celebrations, which ended a week earlier, the prosecution had reported two suspicions of rape and sexual assault.