No, the State did not leave the mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique), Yannick Morez, alone in the face of the threats and intimidation which led him to resign, assure the prefect of Loire- Atlantic and Pays de la Loire, Fabrice Rigoulet-Roze, and the sub-prefect of Saint-Nazaire, Michel Bergue. Both were heard by the Senate on Wednesday, May 31.
“At each stage of this filesaid Mr. Bergue, particularly since the situation has hardened considerably, that is to say since the very end of 2022, the State services have been constantly present, have devoted a lot of time and energy to the management of this case. »
The case is this slow rise in violence and intimidation led by groups of residents supported by the far right against the municipal team led by Yannick Morez. At issue: the installation of a reception center for asylum seekers (CADA) near a primary school. The arson of his home on March 22 led the mayor (various right) to resign with a bang on May 9. Heard by the Senate on May 17, he denounced the lack of support “blatant” of the state, considering “Never been heard, never taken seriously”.
“The municipality has never been left alone in the difficulties”, replied the sub-prefect Bergue. The resignation of Yannick Morez is notably “based on the feeling of a lack of state support”estimated the prefect Rigoulet-Roze, refuting the accusations of lying launched by the mayor.
“Collective failure”
For two hours, the two senior officials rejected, point by point, all his challenges, claiming to have been informed only at the beginning of 2023 of the seriousness of the facts. If there was no written response to the letter of January 23 in which Mr. Morez reported death threats, it is because a meeting was to be organized on February 10. The mayor assured that he had been dissuaded from filing a complaint. The sub-prefect affirmed, on the contrary, that he had been reminded that” it is imperative “ to do. He also said that the gendarmerie had reinforced its patrols.
Remains, conceded the prefect, that this resignation is “a collective failure, and I take my part as territorial representative of the State “. The national commotion it caused is the expression of this “collective failure”, in the words of the prefect: everywhere in France, mayors say they have been abandoned by the state. For the Senator (Radical Left Party) of the Hautes-Pyrénées Maryse Carrère, this is one of the causes of their “malaise”. However, she qualifies, “The feeling is uneven depending on the territory. It depends on the agents of the State. In the Hautes-Pyrénées or in the Somme, for example, the administration is very present with elected officials. »
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