Vigil outside the French embassy in London. Pic Sophie Williams
On Friday night (31st Oct) a candle-lit vigil was held outside the French embassy in London for Rémi Fraisse, the young French protestor killed by the police last weekend. Around twenty people gathered to show solidarity with the family and friends of Rémi, who was just 21 when he was shot in the back with a police grenade. He was protesting against the construction of a dam in the south of France.
Rémi’s death follows two months of police violence against demonstrators. Thousands have been protesting against the construction of the Sivens Dam. The council that authorised the project gave the green light to 41 acres of deforestation and the destruction of precious biodiversity in the Sivens Wetlands. Rémi was a keen botanist and campaigned for the preservation of a type of buttercup. The buttercup has now become the symbol of the solidarity movement across France. People held pictures of the buttercup at the vigil in London on Friday.
There have been demonstrations and vigils across France, as well as in Geneva and Brussels, over the past week. The police have arrested protestors in several cities. A major sit-in began in Paris on Sunday afternoon. The protestors are calling for an end to the dam project, for an inquest into the death of Rémi, and for the immediate release of the arrested protestors.
To send messages of support write to collectifbouilles@riseup.net. People are tweeting messages of support with the hashtag #OccupySivens.
There is also a call-out for vigils in other towns and cities around the world. If you can help where you are, let Campaign Against Climate Change (info@campaigncc.org) know.
Report by Nick Evans
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