The mayor of Calais ranks amongst the most extreme Right in France!
Today (28/02), an occupied house belonging to the Municipality, located at 3 Impasse Leclercq, was illegally evicted in the early afternoon despite conclusive and legally sound evidence of it having been occupied for at least three days (meaning it should be entitled to a court case and notice under french law)! The media had been informed several hours before the eviction and two leading newspapers in the area had published proof of occupation. “La Voix de Nord” published an article showing a picture of this proof, sealed registered letters with the sent date, Wednesday, February 26, 2014 in which there were testimonies and timestamped photos showing that the occupation of the building had been for longer than 48 hours.
The Municipality chose to deliberately ignore this evidence and demand the expulsion of the house. What reasons do they have to publicly flout the law for the umteenth time? Under the name of “municipal government” they behave like a cowboy gang, treating the law as their play thing; only respecting it when it suits their purposes, and not afraid to break it when it does not.
This morning an official from the Municipality accompanied by an officer from the municipal police and the Police Nationale visited the residence. They received the evidence of the occupation that the inhabitants provided. However, in the early afternoon seven vans of CRS accompanied by many other police cars, marked and unmarked,came to evict!
Sealed registered letter posted to the 3 impasse Leclercq, Calais
People tried to talk to the police reminding them of the illegality of theirs actions, and that a decision of the district court was necessary before an expulsion. However, the police ignored this and directly broke down the door without offering the occupants a way out. Residents and inhabitants tried to capture the actions of the police, but they grabbed the camera and threw them against the wall.
The occupants inside the building were also treated brutally, testimonies of which are being taken to make complaints against the police. Those inside were arrested, but released a few hours later without charge or even being interviewed, demonstrating once again that these expulsions are legally baseless! They seem to only have one goal: to empty the house of its inhabitants at all costs, regardless of the legality of their actions or the physical and psychological damage that this causes.
Three other occupied houses were also discovered by police during the day. Residents of these three places also provided evidence of their occupation for more than 48 hours to the media and the police. These homes do not belong to the city, but to other public institution who, for the moment, do not show the eagerness that Calais Ville does to illegally evict the inhabitants.
The complaint for illegal eviction from the house of 3 impasse Leclercq is under way, and all the original evidence was received by our lawyer and will be presented in court. We are ready to repeat this complaint for the other three places that have been opened, as long as our right to housing is not respected.
