Police and activists clash as trees cut on A69 route in France
Activists perched in the trees in a symbolic bid to try and stop the felling
The motorway has long been controversial, with multiple protests along its route
Agence DyF/Shutterstock
Clashes broke out between police and activists at the weekend, over the controversial A69 motorway construction site between Toulouse and Castres (Occitanie).
The motorway project has long been contested.
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This time, the activists were protesting against the final cutting down of trees along the route of the road at the construction site at Saïx (Tarn, Occitanie). People perched in the trees in a symbolic bid to try and stop the felling, and made camps around the site.
The clearing of the site began around midnight, in the presence of and “under the protection of the forces of law and order’”, the Tarn prefecture said. Tensions broke out between the two camps during the night.
A total of 17 people were arrested from Friday August 30 to Sunday September 1, police said, when protesters were removed from a camp near the site.
Differing reports
Accounts of the actions differ significantly between groups.
The gendarmerie said that protesters threw “catapult projectiles”, but activists from the La Voie est Libre collective said that most of the violence came from police as they evacuated the camps.
Tree felling continued on Sunday, September 1, with around 20 activists watching. Some 50 km further on, at Verfeil in the Haute-Garonne, anti-A69 activists occupied another plot of land on the route, and said they were victims of further police violence later in the day.
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The group has also claimed that police actions caused one of their members to fall heavily, resulting in six fractures of the spine.
However, the gendarmerie has denied this, and said that “no property or personal injury was reported”.
On Sunday, September 1, the Tarn prefecture said in a statement: “The planned clearing of trees all along the route of the A69 motorway is now complete. The operation launched on Friday in Saïx (Tarn) and along the construction site…is making significant progress.”
The SNCF train line between Toulouse and Castres reopened early afternoon on Sunday, it also added.
