Transformed into a deal point, a neighborhood media library closes its doors

The press release had the effect of a bomb. The city of Nîmes has announced the immediate closure of the Marc Bernard media library located in the Pissevin district. A high place of trafficking in the prefecture of Gard and in particular drug trafficking. “Since last December, dealers have exerted increasing pressure on the neighborhood with the establishment of ”barricades / checkpoints” to regulate their illicit trade and this, under the right of the media library, details the mayor (LR) Jean-Paul Fournier. Thus, for several months, the 18 agents of the cultural center have been victims of threats and verbal attacks in full view of all. »

The situation is such that they “are even subject to checks and pat-downs in the middle of the street before accessing their work station”, specifies the mayor. Which explains that the cultural place has become a central place for traffic. “A new level has been crossed since the traffickers have entered the building, hitherto sacred, going so far as to film and photograph the staff, and accessing the roof to monitor the surroundings and warn of the arrival of the police forces. »

Journalist violently attacked on Tuesday

For several months, the Gard prefecture has been the subject of numerous settlings of accounts in different districts against a backdrop of drug trafficking, particularly in the Pissevin district. The police are regularly victims of stoning. Recently, the sub-prefect Chloé Demelenaère, who was taking part in a clean-up operation with volunteers, was the target of various projectiles.

This Tuesday, an image reporter from M6 was violently attacked in front of the media library while he was making a report to report on the situation in the neighborhood. “He was hospitalized and his camera was broken by the attackers. Hit standing and on the ground, he suffered numerous blows and multiple bruises. The doctors are waiting for the results of the x-rays, ”denounces the Gard press club.

Rehabilitation work “destabilizes dealer traffic”

The mayor calls for “the almost permanent assignment of a mobile force unit near Place Claude-Debussy to remove the deal point currently in place” and secure the surroundings of the media library. “Any sign of a decline in public services marks a failure, even temporary, of the common action of all actors. This is a matter of daily concern and a priority for the justice system”, considers the prosecutor of the Republic of Nîmes Cécile Gensac, who specifies the large number of offenses against the legislation on narcotics in the city of Nîmes judged by its jurisdiction: “One hundred and thirty-eight judgments, concerning 66 authors, have been rendered over the past year. That is a 253.7% increase in criminal conviction decisions. “With sentences ranging” up to eight years in prison and five years ban on staying in the Gard, specifically for perpetrators from the Pissevin district. »

The Pissevin district and the neighboring one of Valdegour are the subject of a vast rehabilitation program: 285 million euros within the framework of the new national program of urban renewal, 180 million via the operation of requalification of degraded condominiums of interest national and nine million euros for the plan to safeguard the Wagner gallery, considered for a long time to be the epicenter of drug trafficking in Nîmes. “All of these actions have the first effect of destabilizing the traffic of dealers in their areas of establishment, with a transfer to other places including the surroundings of the municipal media library”, estimates the prefecture of Gard.

Since January, the prefecture has counted 93 police operations (anti-delinquency, fight against drug trafficking, anti-urban rodeo checks and visibility operations at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office). Forty-four people were arrested. 26 kg of cannabis resin, 5.3 kg of grass, 88 g of cocaine and 480,000 euros in cash were seized. The Prefecture of Gard also underlines the efforts carried out on the prevention aspect: “fifty field associations are subsidized to the tune of 740,000 euros, 25 adult relays are financed by the State to the tune of 550,000 euros and the educational city has benefited from 381,000 euros in subsidies. »

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