A search was carried out this Sunday in Gironde on the camp of opponents of the future high-speed rail line (LGV) in the South-West. It comes the day after a mobilization punctuated with damage.
According to LGV Non Merci, several gendarmerie units, including dog teams, burst into the camp set up for the weekend in Lerm-et-Musset, 75 km south of Bordeaux, on Sunday. “These are completely classic investigative acts which are underway,” said the Bordeaux public prosecutor’s office.
Cement maker Lafarge targeted
The latter confirmed that the investigations were linked to the sacking on Saturday afternoon of a stuck gendarmerie vehicle, by hooded demonstrators on the sidelines of a procession in the forest. Equipment (helmets, shield, leggings) had been stolen from the vehicle.
The LGV Non Merci collective and the environmental movement Earth Uprisings have also claimed “paintings, banners, disarmament” having targeted several company sites involved in the LGV project, including the cement manufacturer, during the night from Saturday to Sunday. Lafarge.
500 items seized during the event
At the height of the event, the anti-LGV mobilization brought together 1,500 people according to the organizers, between 800 and 1,000 people according to the authorities. At 6:30 p.m. Sunday, there were only around forty vehicles left in the camp, installed on private property and “in the process of being dismantled,” said the Gironde prefecture, which reported three arrests during the week. -end.
Some 500 objects were seized, “including two hunting rifles, two crossbows, 50 bladed weapons, numerous fireworks as well as pétanque balls, slingshots, masks and protective glasses,” she said.
A “deadly” project
The LGV is widely supported by communities in Occitanie, but, in New Aquitaine, opposition to the project estimated at around fifteen billion euros is long-standing, mixing local elected officials and parliamentarians, residents, foresters and wine growers. This line should shorten the train journey between Paris and Toulouse by 73 minutes. A branch line through the Landes forest should connect Dax to Bordeaux in twenty minutes less than currently and, one day, allow direct connections with Spain, while freeing up the existing route for freight.
Opponents denounce a “deadly” project which, according to them, would lead to the artificialization of around 5,000 hectares. They advocate a renovation of existing lines to develop “everyday trains” and criticize the imposition of a special tax on more than 2,300 municipalities close to the route to co-finance the upcoming project.
