In 1974, American director Mel Brooks made a film called The sheriff is in jail. A (very funny) western parody. In 2021, in Draveil, a town of 28,000 inhabitants of Essonne, it is the mayor (Les Républicains, LR), Georges Tron, who is in prison. But that doesn’t make his rare opponents laugh at all.
Sentenced on appeal in February 2021 to five years’ imprisonment, including three years, for “Rape and sexual assault in a meeting” on an employee, the former secretary of state in charge of the public service was nevertheless subject to a six-year ineligibility sentence. But, as he appealed in cassation, his sentences remain suspensive. And the councilor continues to manage his city from his cell in the prison of Health.
The second municipal council since the incarceration of Georges Tron was held on April 21. As in March, the session begins with the reading by the first deputy, Richard Privat, of a letter written by the inmate. The opponent Christian Chardonnet (La République en Marche, LRM), from the group Ensemble reinventons Draveil, then quipped on this “Prevented mayor who can not help but speak at length.”
Filmed by France 3, the city council ends in a way that Mel Brooks would not have denied : while the opposition is speaking on a request for dismissal of Georges Tron, the first deputy (who does not wear a mask) and his supporters get up and leave. “There is no more quorum! “, launches Mr. Privat before turning off the light, leaving the six elected opposition alone in the dark.
A humiliated opposition
So is the life of those who oppose Georges Tron in Draveil, since his first election in 1995. Sunday, May 2, in the market, the national police came to reinforce the municipal police “In order to evacuate a dozen opponents disturbing public order and distributing defamatory leaflets”, let the town hall know. In reality, a simple distribution of the opposition. Humiliations, insults, threats, mics cut off in city council, comments surreptitiously deleted from the city’s Facebook page are the daily lot of Georges Tron’s political opponents.
“Georges Tron is not there, but he is on his land. It’s his whole life and he continues to operate his networks from the depths of his prison. »Christian Chardonnet, municipal councilor
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