France 3 / Thursday 10 September 2020
Fourteen activists of the yellow vests movement have been indicted for damage by fire in an organized gang, announced the Mulhouse prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot at a press conference this Thursday, September 10. The twelve men and two women would have
set fire to nine telephone antennas in eight municipalities in Haut-Rhin, between January 5, 2019 and January 23, 2020. They were placed under judicial control.
The events took place in the municipalities of Altkirch, Roppentzwiller, Eteimbes, Seppois-le-Bas, Valdieu-Lutran, Traubach-le-Haut, Wittelsheim and Kingersheim. The indicted, aged 22 to 63, would have acted with the same operating mode for each degradation, by spraying gasoline on a tyre before setting it on fire next to the pylon.
Alexandre Jeaunaux, commander of the gendarmerie of the Haut-Rhin department, describes a very rigorous organization: “People were given specific roles. Some were in charge of the supply of means, in particular the tyres and flammable materials used to set fire to the pylons, others organized the meeting of people, still others spotted places and telephone antennas. We can see that it is a real group that committed this series of offences. “
Among the fourteen activists, some would have been particularly active in the yellow vests movement, others would have them followed through solidarity, according to the prosecutor. They did not express any clear political claim. Most of them had no criminal record at the time of the incident. They are facing fifteen years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros. The investigation required a lot of “painstaking” work, the prosecutor explained, “more than a year and a half of investigations” carried out in particular by the Altkirch research brigade. Reinforcements from across the Haut-Rhin departmental gendarmerie group intervened,including 70 gendarmes on Monday 7 September alone, when the majority of the suspected perpetrators were arrested. The first indictment took place in July. Other activists were presented to the investigating judge on Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 September 2020, before being charged. Judicial information continues. excerpt from l’Essor de la Gendarmerie Nationale, also today: […] The law suspects these 14 yellow vests of having damaged 9 telephone pylons in 8 Haut-Rhin communes. The investigators have provided a well-established operating mode. They believe that the implicated set the pylons on fire with gasoline-soaked tyres. The arsonists placed them at the foot of the electrical boxes. Result: several million euros’ damage to operators, and major telephone disruptions in the sectors targeted. […]
[Translated by Act for freedom now!]
