A few days after the arrest of around fifteen young people in the surroundings of Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), after violence and damage, particularly to vehicles, four of them were presented to justice, said the deputy public prosecutor, Alexandre Chevrier, in a press release published this Tuesday.
Since December 25, several acts of violence, including firework mortars against the police and destruction of vehicles or trash fires, have been recorded in sensitive neighborhoods of Hautepierre and Cronenbourg in Strasbourg.
This weekend, “specific operations”, with the support of the CRS 8, specialized in the management of these phenomena, allowed the arrest of 14 people, who were placed in police custody, indicated the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin.
“A game of burning vehicles or erecting barricades”
Guest on CNEWS this Tuesday, the prefect of the Grand-Est and Bas-Rhin region, Jacques Witkowski, confirmed that “for several days in the Strasbourg metropolitan area, we have been experiencing some urban violence which is the work of young minors aged between 12 and 16 years old.
These young people “do not seek confrontation, nor confrontation with the police forces and enter into a game consisting of burning vehicles or erecting flaming barricades with trash cans,” explained the prefect, referring for his part to around thirty of arrests.
Four of them were presented to justice, according to the Strasbourg public prosecutor's office. “Two minors – aged 15 and 17 respectively – were referred following mortar fire towards national police officers on the evening of December 26, 2024” in the Koenigshoffen district of Strasbourg, said the deputy prosecutor. .
This Tuesday, a 16-year-old minor and a 19-year-old adult were referred “following mortar fire on firefighters and police officers on the evening of December 28, 2024 in the district of the city of Ill in Strasbourg,” he added.
“A simplistic vision of judicial reality”
But faced with criticism “tends to give credence to the public the idea of a form of complacency on the part of the judicial authority with regard to troublemakers”, the deputy public prosecutor of Strasbourg wanted to clarify the situation, denouncing “a simplistic vision of judicial reality”.
Recalling that prosecutions can only be ordered “if the investigations make it possible to gather sufficient evidence against identified perpetrators”, Alexandre Chevrier justified the lifting of a certain number of police custody measures, without immediate legal action, precisely “because of a lack of evidence against the individuals concerned, at this stage of the investigations”.
Penal orders (for adults) and citizenship courses (for minors) were ordered for individuals accused of illegal possession of firecrackers and fireworks, recalls the deputy prosecutor. Concerning the identified perpetrators of damage and violence against the police or firefighters, they have been systematically referred, insists Alexandre Chevrier, who recalls that pre-trial detention is prohibited for minors under 16 years of age.
In addition, investigations linked to urban violence being complex, in particular due to “a plurality of perpetrators who are difficult to identify”, they can “prolong” and “be postponed over time”, adds the prosecutor.
