The National Assembly observed a minute of silence on Tuesday in tribute to young Thomas, stabbed in Drôme, its president Yaël Braun-Pivet expressing the “solidarity of heart and spirit” of the national representation. “An outbreak of violence has thrown a French commune into horror,” declared Yaël Braun-Pivet, shortly before the opening of the traditional question session to the government.
“Solidarity of heart and mind”
“It is important that justice be done, and justice is neither revenge nor vindictiveness,” she insisted, expressing the “solidarity of heart and spirit” of the National Assembly. The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne also paid tribute to Thomas who “embodied the values of generosity and courage so specific to his sport, rugby”.
“We have a duty of unity, a duty of dignity, without minimizing the facts (…) without political recovery, without stirring up hatred,” said the head of government to the national representation. She condemned “with the greatest firmness the demonstrations and acts of violence by the ultra-right” last weekend. “Justice never comes from violence, we will not let anything slip through,” she insisted, calling for “investigators” and “magistrates” to be left responsible for advancing justice.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced Tuesday that he would propose the dissolution of the Martel Division, a small ultra-right group of which at least one member is suspected of being involved in the violence in Romans-sur-Isère. In addition to Thomas, who died after receiving stab wounds, at least eight people were injured on the night of November 18 to 19 at the end of the “winter ball” in Crépol, in circumstances that are still unclear.
⚫️ Minute of silence and tribute to Thomas, who died in Crépol
️ Faced with a “drama which mourns and shocks our entire country”, @YaelBRAUNPIVET declares that “it is important that justice be done”, specifying that “justice is neither revenge nor vindictiveness”.#DirectANpic.twitter.com/rqoKugXR30
— National Assembly (@AssembleeNat) November 28, 2023
Nine young people, partly arrested in Toulouse where they had fled, were indicted on Saturday, notably for “murder by an organized gang”, a charge punishable by life imprisonment. Six of them, including two minors, were incarcerated. Calling for “new responses” to “fight effectively against these gangs”, Élisabeth Borne declared that she had asked the Ministers of Justice and the Interior for proposals.
In recent months, the National Assembly has notably observed minutes of silence in tribute to the victims of Hamas attacks, to Dominique Bernard, a teacher killed in Arras by an S file, and to the victims of a knife attack in Annecy by a Syrian refugee. , or even to young Nahel, killed in Nanterre by a police officer. The latter had sparked mixed reactions, even criticism from the right and the far right, with some elected officials calling for reflection on the relevance of minutes of silence.
According to a parliamentary source, the decision concerning that in tribute to Thomas, taken at the conference of presidents, was not the subject of particular debates on Tuesday, but Yaël Braun-Pivet announced that he was initiating a reflection on the criteria which could govern the organization of minutes of silence. LFI deputies were refused a minute of silence last week in tribute to the UN collaborators who died in Gaza, according to rebellious and environmentalist elected officials.