Controversy Erupts Over Mass Confinement Fines in French Suburb

"The municipal police recognize us on the city’s cameras and send us the fines without even checking us, our certificates are useless. Whether we go out to the bakery or anything else, we are fined. Yet we have not come across any municipal police patrols," denounces Mohamed, 24 years old. "Anyway, they only have one and cannot issue fines at the same time in two places in the city." Like Mohamed, many are complaining about the fines without checks for non-compliance with confinement during the covid-19 health crisis.

Residents of the housing projects in Seine-Saint-Denis and Yvelines like in Val-Fourré in Mantes-la-Jolie have experienced the same situation, reports Le Parisien. After receiving the letter, Mohamed thought it was useful to launch an appeal on social media. He realizes that he was not an isolated case in the Cinéastes neighborhood. A dozen other young people contacted him and sent him their tickets, the same source said.

Together, they decided to file an appeal and send a letter to the prefecture. Except that the only valid method of contesting is that they send a letter to the public prosecutor’s office (OMP) of Essonne. The latter will examine their case. They will then be required to prove that they were not checked. "But there are solutions," reassures lawyer Lebon. "And the number of fines and checks in these sensitive neighborhoods is a source of animosity, which can have consequences. I live in Paris and people are much more outside. Without noting the same repression."