Emmanuel Macron and his government are not tackling the “systemic” problem of police violence because they are “afraid of the police”, said the leader of the Insoumis deputies Mathilde Panot on Tuesday, judging that the criticisms against LFI were a ” diversion” after Nahel’s death.

“We have a systemic problem in the police, we have a problem with this government which refuses to learn the lessons of this tragedy”, said the deputy in front of the press, in reference to the death of the young Nahel, killed by a policeman.

“And they may create a diversion by pointing to LFI as irresponsible, or video games (…) or by pointing out the responsibility of parents (…) They are the irresponsible ones for not providing a single political response”, she continued.

While LFI and Jean-Luc Mélenchon have been strongly criticized for their refusal to explicitly call for appeasement in the face of urban violence, Ms. Panot hammered home “there will be no return to calm if there is no there is no justice”, and therefore questioning of police methods.

But “we have a power that is afraid of the police, which no longer controls its police,” she said.

The Insoumise particularly wanted proof of this in the “radio silence on the part of the power”, after a press release from the police unions Alliance and Unsa police. The latter said they were “at war”, and evoked the “combat” against the “harmful” and the “savage hordes” taking part in the night riots after the death of Nahel.

“There is a race to the shallot towards the extreme right-wing of the police unions”, added to his side the deputy LFI Eric Coquerel.

The LFI deputies recalled their wish for the repeal of a measure adopted in 2017, on the initiative of the former Socialist Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, which they describe as a “license to kill”. It provides in particular that the police can use their weapon to “immobilize” vehicles “whose drivers do not obey the stop order”.

More broadly, Ms. Panot reiterated the request for a “truth and justice committee to shed light on the number of deaths during refusal to comply”.

“We are not anti-cops, we have a problem with the police as it is organized today by power,” she added.

07/04/2023 12:49:44 –         Paris (AFP) –         © 2023 AFP