The environmentalist mayor of Besançon appeals to the State. This Saturday, Anne Vignot, councilor of the town of Doubs, denounced “a mafia system” after three businesses in the town were riddled with bullets in a week.
“Today we have a gang that is launching a form of intimidation on businesses. It looks like a mafia system,” lamented the elected official, who asked for “additional resources” from the authorities in a statement to the press.
Three businesses targeted in seven days
During the night from Friday to Saturday, a grill restaurant was, according to her, the target of gunfire which left several bullet holes on the facade and windows.
This is the third establishment strafed in seven days in the city. The previous weekend, a hookah bar was targeted at night in Avanne-Avenay (Doubs), around ten kilometers from Besançon. And during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a barber came under fire, she listed.
Each time, the scene was deserted and there were no injuries. But the mayor of Besançon is worried about these repeated episodes.
“These mafiosi are taking the population hostage”
“These mafiosi are taking the population hostage” and “when we are faced with a mafia system, it is a sovereign obligation to come and dismantle it,” demands the mayor.
-When requested, the Besançon public prosecutor's office indicated that a judicial investigation was underway. The investigations were entrusted to the Besançon police station and to the research section of the Doubs gendarmerie for the first shooting, the commune of Avanne-Avenay being in the gendarmerie zone.
Anne Vignot also calls for “a strong and committed national policy, with additional resources”, in particular “reinforcements of the national police, investigators, and reinforced scientific police”.
CRS deployed in Besançon
The Doubs prefecture announced the deployment of CRS 83 in Besançon on Saturday evening. Its mission will be to “support” the national police in order to “multiply control and security operations” in different neighborhoods.
The mayor also questions French policy in the fight against drugs.
“Of course, we have to be very firm with crime, there are killers and in this case we are repressive.” But we also “need to work with consumers, and for certain products to have a regulatory capacity,” she believes.
