Three men were arrested on Wednesday, January 17, for the attack in the middle of the street, at the end of December, of a deputy mayor of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), a source close to the case announced on Friday. Agence France Presse (AFP).
Leaving a work meeting on December 20, around 9:30 p.m., Oriane Filhol, the 6th deputy mayor of Saint-Denis, Mathieu Hanotin (socialist), felt herself being followed by several men in the street. After they caught up with her, the person in charge of women’s rights solidarity issues for the municipality was brushed before being kicked in the head and body. His attackers had fled. Injured, the delegated departmental councilor did not have “any fracture or excessively serious injury”, the Saint-Denis town hall told AFP.
This attack aroused the indignation of the political world, against a backdrop of an increase in violence against elected officials. The constituency’s deputy, Stéphane Peu (PCF), denounced an “odious act”. “To attack a woman alone in the street who is returning home is undignified and cowardly,” he said in a press release. The mayor of the neighboring town of Aubervilliers, Karine Franclet (UDI), had estimated on ), said he was “in shock”.
As part of the investigation carried out by territorial security, three men, two of whom are aged 18, were arrested this week, reported a source close to the case. The suspects appear to have deliberately targeted the elected official. Those arrested must be presented to the Bobigny court on Friday, either as part of the opening of a judicial investigation or in immediate appearance.
Violence against elected officials is a sensitive subject which has gained momentum in recent months. Public opinion was marked by the arson at the home of the mayor of Saint-Brevin (Loire-Atlantique) and by the car-ramming attack which targeted that of his counterpart in L’Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne) during the summer riots. According to the Ministry of the Interior, attacks against elected officials are expected to increase by 15% in 2023, after an increase of 32% the previous year (2,265 complaints and reports).