Two collectives are maintaining their gathering in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme) on Saturday November 30, after the decision of the Grenoble administrative court which suspends the order of the prefect of Drôme aimed at banning demonstrations. Marie-Hélène Thoraval, the mayor of Romans-sur-Isère, shares her concern about the conjunction of these two manifestations the same day in the same territory and evokes the risk of violent clashes.
The mayor of Romans-sur-Isère requests police reinforcements
This Saturday at 3 p.m., the ultra-right collective “Justice pour les Nôtres” is organizing a static gathering at Place Ernest Gailly to pay tribute to Thomas, killed in November 2023 during a ball in Crépol. An hour earlier, another demonstration is due to leave from Place Hector Berlioz, that of the “Collectif pour Novels”. The association denounces a “racist recovery” from ultra-right groups. The mayor of Romans-sur-Isère, Marie-Hélène Thoraval, asks the State to do everything possible to supervise these events as much as possible and to deploy additional resources to those initially planned to guarantee the safety of people and property.
Initially, the Drôme prefecture issued an order to prohibit gatherings in connection with the commemoration of the death in Crépol of Thomas Perotto or that of Nicolas Dumas killed on the sidelines of a shooting in front of a discotheque in Saint-Péray ( Ardèche). The decree recalled in particular the punitive expedition carried out in Romans by the ultra-right during the weekend of November 25 to 26, 2023 which gave rise to acts of violence and arrests.
Residents fear violence could break out on the sidelines of rallies
“We need calm. Gatherings are a bad idea“, sighs Bouchra, a resident. In the streets of Romans-sur-Isère, no one wants the deaths of these young people to be forgotten, but Catherine is opposed to any political recovery: “Il “It shouldn't be an opportunity to bring in far-right groups, there should be a gathering, it's legitimate, but it risks being misused.”
The mobilizations should not intersect
But for his part, the spokesperson for the “Justice for Ours” collective reassures: “the gatherings don't happen at the same time, we are 40 minutes apart, there shouldn't be a problem. We have always assured that our initiative was pacifist. We are not supposed to cross paths with the other left-wing group, but I still worry about the presence of organizations that have violent activism in this same group“.
For the “Collectif de Novels” which organizes the other mobilization: “our route starts from Place Hector Berlioz going back to the Europe roundabout, we want to echo the resistance in Romans, to show that in Romans people are not racist, it will be a joyful and solemn stroll “.
