Demonstrations banned in the city center of Toulouse on Saturday
Undeclared demonstrations are prohibited in the hypercentre of Toulouse on Saturday, November 20, in accordance with a prefectural decree.
Once again, the Haute-Garonne prefecture has decided to prohibit access to the Toulouse hypercentre to undeclared demonstrations this Saturday, November 20. In a press release sent to the media, she announces a decree indicating that “The prefect of the Occitanie region, prefect of Haute-Garonne, prohibits access to the Toulouse hypercentre to any unreported protest gathering on Saturday, November 20, 2021”.
To explain this decision, the prefecture recalls that “disturbances to public order have arisen in downtown Toulouse during undeclared gatherings in recent months, during which acts of violence have taken place within the procession. , anarchic wanderings in the city center of Toulouse, an obstacle to traffic by means of metal barriers placed on the public highway by demonstrators, attempted intrusions within the Toulouse town hall and the regional prefecture, violence, throwing projectiles and insults committed on various occasions and causing injuries among the police, the invasion of several places as well as damage to urban furniture and terraces ”. She believes that “these problems could recur on Saturday, November 20”.
The prefecture also considers that “the absence of a declaration of an event does not make it possible to identify organizers capable of controlling the number of participants, compliance with barrier measures and social distancing, even though the shopping hyper-center in Toulouse is very busy on Saturdays ”.
“Demonstrations are not prohibited as such” in Toulouse
The press release ends by specifying that “demonstrations are not prohibited as such, provided that they do not fall within the perimeter of the Toulouse hypercentre and that barrier gestures are applied there”.
As a reminder, a similar decree has been taken by the Haute-Garonne prefecture every week, since July, before the demonstration against the health pass scheduled for Saturday. Indeed, the protest movement against the modalities of application of the health pass is not the subject of any declaration at the prefecture.