On Monday the 6th of January 2014 a house in 221 Route de Saint Omer, Calais was squatted, which was left empty for more than 1 year.
5 days later, the house got evicted and all legal procedures have been ignored by the authorities. On Thursday, the cops and representatives of the owner, OPH (Office Public de l’Habitat) came to the house. The mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchard, actually ‘president d’honneur’ of the OPH, is for sure not amused about people claiming their need of a safe shelter.
On friday about 30 cops, together with the workers from OPH, arrived at the house. One local politician, Philippe Mignonet, who is following almost every eviction, was embedded in the action. Without announcing an eviction or asking the inhabitants to open the door or even come out, they smashed the front door and arrested brutally and illegally 4 people. One of them was injured during the police action.
Again, Calais cops and authorities acted against the law, by not respecting article 102 of the Civil Code. The arrested people were released 5 hours later without charges. One of them remained anonymous while in custody.
The cops refused to give a lawyer and verbally and physically attacked them. The house, meant as a place to live, was immediately boarded up by OPH workers and left empty again.
Published on http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/2014/01/11/a-new-house-occupied-illegal-eviction-after-5-days/
