Prefect Hugues Moutouh, wants to file a complaint against Hakim Madi because he had compared Macron to the Vichy regime. “Your France follows in the footsteps of Vichy,” Madi said on Facebook, on October 14. He had attacked LREM MP Mireille Clapot on her Facebook page.
According to France 3 Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Madi is engaged in “the local and associative political life of Valence”. He denounced the words of Emmanuel Macron calling for “a society of vigilance” which would take into account “the small gestures that signal a distance from the laws and values of the Republic”.
But the attack by Madi on Clapot has apparently aroused the ire of the prefect of the Drôme. In a press release dated October 18, the latter told the public prosecutor, “on behalf of the state, a wish to file a complaint against Mr. Madi Hakim”.
He quoted Hakim Madi, accusing the government of pursuing a “policy of pursuing Muslims” and “a hate-filled fight” against their community, as well as of maintaining a “racist and Islamophobic climate”.
Hakim Madi also said that the Macron government was following in the “steps of [France] Vichy” and that the country was “spiraling into the abyss, towards the unspeakable, to apartheid”.
In a press release, the prefect noted: “These facts clearly are an offense of public defamation against persons with public authority as provided for in the first paragraphs of Articles 29 and 31 of the law of July 29, 1881”.
He “insisted on denouncing, with the utmost firmness, the scandalous scandalous remarks made by Mr. Madi,” which “will lead to inciting anger between French citizens, and in creating in our country a dangerous climate of hatred and violence, likely to influence the weakest and most vulnerable minds, under the guise of taking the defense of the French of Muslim confession”.
When contacted by Dauphiné Libéré, Hakim Madi admitted to having used strong language. The former candidate in the 2017 parliamentary elections, however, denounced the “injustice” he has suffered. “It’s a prefect who complains when the problem comes from the state. I have never called for hatred.”
It appears as if the prefect has been acting on behalf of President Macron himself. But while the French leader is very worried about his image, he seems less sensitive about police violence aimed at protesters and advocated by his administration.
Some representatives of the State in the service of France – firefighters – are no longer ready to ensure the safety of the President of the Republic because of police violence. A radical decision was taken by firefighters of the Mayotte airport section.
On Tuesday, October 22, President Macron landed on the island of Mayotte, where the fire department of the airport section refused to ensure the fire safety of the presidential plane. They said they were acting in solidarity with their counterparts in metropolitan France, “victims” of the police during the demonstration on October 15.
In a statement from the National Union of Professional Fire Brigades, the firefighters indicated that they would refuse to take charge of the fire safety of the presidential plane.
During the events of October 15, when firefighters demonstrated in Paris, the latter “were victims of tear gas bombs and bullets”, the text read. The firefighters of the airport section of the island are therefore “in solidarity” with their “colleagues in the Metropolis and DOM-TOM”.
“The proper security for the aircraft of the President of the Republic” will not be assured “one hour before landing until fifteen minutes after the complete shutdown of the engines,” said the National Union of Professional Firefighters. After that, their activity will then resume “in full”.
Last Tuesday, during the firefighter protest in Paris many were wounded. A video of a fireman who speaks to Emmanuel Macron after the firefighters’ demonstration in Paris was widely shared on social networks.
He is a firefighter in Essonne that took part in the demonstration together with some 10 000 firefighters, according to the unions. The firefighters had come to shout their “anger” at their working conditions.
Interviewed by LCI, the firefighter said he wanted to help a fallen firefighter, before he was targeted by the police while he was at Place de la Nation. He was injured by a flashball fired at at close range. Many others were also injured.
Starting from the Place de la République, the protesters arrived at Place de la Nation at around 18:00, passing through the Bastille. The end of the protest action was marked by tensions between police officers and protesters at the Place de la Nation and in front of the National Assembly.
🇫🇷 "Je suis #pompiers, c'est terminé ! Ca fait onze ans que je fais ce métier, c'est fini ! Macron va te faire enc… ! Va ramasser les gens dans la rue tout seul ! Connard va ! Ta police elle me tire dessus, va te faire enc… !" pic.twitter.com/ijJ53lrdLE
— En Cause (@EnCausee) October 15, 2019
Violences policières sur les pompiers maintenant ! On aura tout vu !!!! #pompiers #nation #Paris #CastanerDemission #MacronDemission #Violencespolicieres pic.twitter.com/csTYUejhTa
— Nina (@NinaNina9344) October 15, 2019
💥📽️HONTEUX des #pompiers blessés par les policiers c'est INEDIT😣 une image triste jamais on aurait pu imaginer ça!!#Macron #Paris #FRATUR #Giletsjaunes pic.twitter.com/DKMRbn6WLP
— Le Général 💎 (@leGneral2) October 15, 2019