France had been under a state of emergency since the attacks of November 13, 2015. The persistent threat had so far led successive governments to extend it multiple times.
The state of emergency helped thwart several attacks, notably in Marseille and the Alpes-Maritimes.
“The state of emergency cannot be a permanent state, but the terrorist threat remains permanent,” states Minister of the Interior Gérard Collomb. However, once the threat becomes lasting,
it was necessary to adapt the legal framework within common law and thus exit the state of emergency, which was accomplished with the anti-terrorism law adopted on October 18 by Parliament and promulgated by the President of the Republic from that day forward.
Moreover, the lessons from the struggle show clearly that an emergency state is inappropriate for confronting contemporary terrorism. What is required is sustained and persistent action, not a suspension of rules that can only be temporary.
Naturally, this is not the opinion of @ECiotti, who, still fully charged but unable to assume the role of Minister of the Interior, has opted (metaphorically) for the “brigadier general” uniform of the radical right for whom nothing ever goes right and everything is always the government’s fault, even when it rains:
The end of the #stateofemergency is a mistake and weakens the degree of protection for the French #terrorism—he tweeted.
Should we counter with Montesquieu’s thought, “they would lose their liberty for a time to preserve it forever”?
In any case, it marks the end of an exceptional regime that lasted nearly two years, during which it allowed security services to thwart 32 attacks, including 13 in 2017.
By the numbers…
Between November 2015 and October 2017, exactly 4,457 administrative searches were conducted. These operations allowed for the seizure of 625 weapons, including 78 war weapons (Kalashnikovs, assault rifles, and at least one rocket launcher).
Judicial actions were taken in about one in four cases: 998 judicial investigations were opened, leading to 646 police custodies.
The overwhelming majority of administrative searches (3,594 of them) took place in the first six months of the arrangement, from November 2015 to May 2016. In contrast, only 58 were conducted between July and November 2017.
In two years, 752 individuals were placed under house arrest with a daily obligation to report to the police or gendarmerie.
19 Muslim places of worship closed.
Additionally, nineteen Muslim places of worship were closed by decree of the Minister of the Interior.
Throughout this period, protection and security zones (ZPS) were set up 75 times around major public gatherings such as the Euro 2016 soccer tournament or major Christmas markets.
