Several people were arrested during an ultra-right parade in Lyon on Monday evening.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced today on France Inter that he was going to demand the dissolution of three far-right groups, following an attack by activists last weekend and the arrest of several demonstrators during a parade in Lyon.
“I am going to propose the end of various small groups“, declared Gérald Darmanin on France Inter, warning that a reaction “farm“was necessary to avoid”a civil war scenario“.
Among the organizations targeted, he cited “a group called the Martel Division, just the name scares us, and two others whose names I cannot name“.
The minister’s announcement follows a series of clashes between the far right and the police, after a teenager, Thomas, was fatally stabbed during a fight which broke out after a dance party in the village of Crepol. Ten suspects, including three minors, were placed in pre-trial detention following this incident, which gave rise to Islamophobic hate speech from the far right.
The National Assembly will observe a minute of silence as a sign of mourning this afternoon.
Last weekend, around a hundred far-right activists from different cities marched hooded in the town of Romans-sur-Isère, in the southeast of the country, to “fight” with young people from the La Monnaie district, where several of the people accused of the death of young Thomas live.
The demonstrators clashed with the police who blocked their way. On Monday, six people were sentenced by the Valencia criminal court to sentences ranging from six to ten months in prison for “participation in a group formed to prepare for violence” Or “damage“.
Gérald Darmanin welcomed these convictions, believing that the reaction of the authorities and the police had made it possible “to avoid an Irish scenario“, in reference to the riots which hit Dublin last week after a knife attack which left four people injured.
“France, because it was firm, avoided a scenario of a small civil war“, considers the Minister of the Interior, adding that the death of Thomas, a “vile drama“, should not have “allow someone else to stand up in the name of the State to do justice“.
“There is a mobilization in the ultra-right which wants to push us into civil war“, he continues, stressing that 13 plans for far-right attacks have been recorded by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) since 2017.
Gérald Darmanin called on law enforcement and local officials in general to take preventive measures against any gathering likely to result in violent action.
His announcement comes as eight people were arrested Monday evening, suspected of having participated in an undeclared ultra-right procession in the city center of Lyon.
Thirteen people were also arrested on Saturday in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, suspected of having sprayed swastikas on the ground. Several of them must be presented to a judge Tuesday morning.
Identity politics
According to a recent parliamentary report, French far-right identity movements number nearly 3,300 people, including 1,300 registered on the “Fiche S”.
Made up of former members of Zouaves Paris and Bastion Social, two groups already dissolved, the Martel Identity Division was formed during the second half of 2022.
She became known in December during an attempted attack against North African supporters during the France-Morocco World Cup semi-final.
Several activists from the group were also present at the end of April in Saint-Brévin, where a demonstration against a reception center for asylum seekers gave rise to clashes.
According to the Interior Ministry, at least one member of the group is suspected of being involved in the violence in Romans-sur-Isère.
ADVERTISEMENT“For several months, the services have been working on this small group which aims to promote the use of violence to encourage the advent of nationalist and xenophobic supremacy.“, declared the Ministry of the Interior to AFP.
