the prefect wants to bring together the mayor, president of the Metropolis and the region to speed things up
Pascal Mailhos, prefect of the Rhône and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region @WilliamPham
Interpol, the international police institution headquartered in Lyon, wants to expand its premises. A file which crisp between the various local communities and the State. The prefect intervenes.
The prefect of the Rhône Pascal Mailhos announced to the Progress Friday, November 5 that he “will invite the three communities (town hall of Lyon, Metropolis and Region, editor’s note) to a meeting in the coming days” about the extension of the headquarters of Interpol. This international police institution has had its headquarters in Lyon since 1989 and has wanted to expand it since 2015.
“Since 2019, the State has informed the Regional Council, the Métropole de Lyon and the City of Lyon, on several occasions, of the project to renovate and extend the headquarters of Interpol”, affirming the services of the prefecture. This extension could cost up to 50 million euros.
This intervention by the prefect comes shortly after the visit of Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, to Interpol headquarters in early October. In a letter addressed to communities at the beginning of November, the Minister of the Interior called on the mayor of Lyon, the president of the Metropolis and the president of the Region to officially commit to this file.
Read also: Interpol: Gérald Darmanin has encountered a blow of pressure to the communities of Lyon
Gérald Darmanin announces that Interpol will stay in Lyon
Between reluctance and exhortations
“I am the guarantor of the city’s public funds. Before making any investment, you have to know the equation. I remind you that Interpol is an international organization in which States are involved. It is obvious that it is up to there. “French state to do the job”, pointed out Grégory Doucet in our columns on October 8, 2021. On the side of the Metropolis of Lyon, its president Bruno Bernard has not yet spoken. The Region, for its part, offered to participate financially.
The LREM deputies of the Rhône, in support of the minister of their majority, also took up the file. In a letter to the press of November 6, they called the town hall of Lyon and the Metropolis “to finally adopt a constructive position to finance the necessary work.” They point out that Interpol is a “secular tradition” of the city of Lyon.
A possible next director of Interpol very controversial
Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi, former inspector general of the UAE’s interior ministry, is a candidate for President of Interpol. But he is also accused of acts of torture and complaints have been filed against him. For Grégory Doucet “this is the first subject to settle”, concerning Interpol. “VShe is an international institution that talks about the police and therefore crimes in which it is a question of appointing someone who would be accused of torture, that raises questions. It is the credibility of the institution that is at stake ”, he explains.
Read also: Lyon: Ahmed Nasser Al-Raisi, candidate for the presidency of Interpol, targeted by a new complaint for acts of torture
A situation also denounced by the environmentalist deputy Hubert Julien-Laferrière. “Mr. Darmanin and France cannot accept that the agency which is responsible for prosecuting criminals is attacked by a man suspected of crimes“, he called out on October 8. For him, this appointment “undermines the reputation of an international organization with a prominent role”. The Interpol file has not finished talking.