RTL 5minutes – Lydie Polfer: The demonstrations must be better supervised
The crowd of people who gathered on the Place d’Armes, and the propensity for violence during the demonstration against the Covid measures, scared me and people in the capital, the deputy reported on Tuesday on RTL -mayor of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer.
The town hall would have ignored everything about the demonstration and would therefore have been surprised. That same day, no member of the police reportedly reported to the bourgmestre to inform her of what had been done. She was in Luxembourg and she would have heard the disturbances and the uproar. She would then have to proactively follow the police to the fairgrounds that they had to close their stalls on the Christmas market.
She would not have seen how many agents were on the ground, or if it was enough, but the police would have behaved well, because they would not have made any provocation and would have bet on appeasement. A spark would have been enough to provoke a major brawl, according to the mayor.
To express one’s opinion freely would not mean depriving other people of their livelihood. In particular the traders of the Christmas market and those of the City of Luxembourg, adds Lydie Polfer.
How to supervise future events?
The police would have a monopoly on violence in the state and would therefore be required to better supervise the protests in the face. During a meeting between the municipal authorities, the police directorate, the Minister of Internal Security and the prosecution, it was decided that the demonstrations should be announced and supervised by the police. If the factors are not likely to be the route set, the police will have to intervene and it will be a very difficult and sensitive time.
He should also prevent protesters from reaching the city center, according to the deputy mayor. A meeting with the Prime Minister and the prosecution is still scheduled for Tuesday to discuss it. The City of Luxembourg cannot ban any demonstration, but Lydie Polfer nevertheless called on sensible people not to participate in the demonstration.
It would be up to the Minister of the Interior to decide whether to check the identity of the protesters and as far as she knows, he would like to do so, according to Lydie Polfer. We would then have better control over the people who enter Luxembourg and infiltrate the demonstrations. This should be better controlled beforehand, adds the mayor of the City of Luxembourg.
