After the incidents that occurred during the New Year on December 31, 2024 and the arrest of several minors, the prefect of Bas-Rhin, Jacques Witkowski, underlines parental responsibility in a letter.
The prefect of Bas-Rhin, Jacques Witkowski, sent a letter to the parents of young people arrested during the urban violence that occurred in Strasbourg the week of December 31, 2024 to remind them of their parental obligations and inform them of possible sanctions, he said. -he announced Tuesday to AFP.
“There were 70 to 80 arrests in the Eurometropolis, a significant figure over a week,” notes the prefect.
The prefect blames the parents
Many arrests took place on New Year's Eve, but the previous evenings were also the scene of multiple incidents, burning cars or mortar fire, frequent events in the Alsatian capital on New Year's Eve.
“Given the seriousness of the facts in question, I question your ability to fulfill your parental obligations satisfactorily,” the prefect wrote to the parents of the minors arrested.
“I draw your attention to the fact that the actions of your minor child may give rise to your liability.”
The foreign parents of the offending minors were summoned for a meeting at the prefecture. If they do not go there or do not present conclusive evidence, “I plan to re-examine your right to stay on national territory”, insists Jacques Witkowski.
French parents are initially invited to seek help from social services in the event of educational difficulties, before also receiving possible sanctions.
“I am counting on your commitment to ensure that these actions do not happen again in the future, in the very interest of your child, as well as that of our fellow citizens,” he wrote to parents.
“The culprits are brought before the magistrates”
The prefect also recalls the order prohibiting the presence on public roads of unaccompanied minors under the age of 16 for the evening of December 31.
“These acts of delinquency deserve appropriate treatment. The culprits are brought before the magistrates but at our level we are thinking about how to prevent these acts,” Jacques Witkowski explains to AFP.
“There are minors in the street in the evening at 11 p.m., with incendiary bottles, fireworks mortars… Parents cannot ignore this. I therefore wanted to strongly challenge them: what is your son doing in the street?
“We are dealing with habitual delinquents, who burn cars to have fun and party: we all have to think together to try to curb such a phenomenon, to try to move the lines” , he emphasizes again.
The prefect recalls that he had to send “significant police resources every evening, at a time when we are focused on other issues, the Christmas market for example. And we are making the police forces take very significant risks. “order as well as significant risks to local residents who asked for nothing.”
The mayor of Strasbourg regrets these incidents
In his previous positions, in Hérault or Seine-Saint-Denis, Jacques Witkowski says he has already dealt with episodes of violence, “but I have not experienced a systemic scale like this”, he notes. .
“Also think about the image that Strasbourg conveys: we go from Christmas markets, festive, to two days later riots, police officers in helmets, etc…”
The mayor of Strasbourg Jeanne Barseghian (EELV) also regretted the incidents of New Year's Eve. “The unrest which persists every New Year's Eve continues to concern us. Despite the preventive measures implemented by communities such as by the State, some continue to sow trouble, in particular by burning vehicles, or by confronting the police and firefighters. This violence is unacceptable,” she declared in a press release this week. passed.
