Acts of physical or verbal violence against elected officials have increased by 32% in 2022, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior unveiled Wednesday by the Minister of Communities Dominique Faure, who wants to set up a "fight cell" to face the phenomenon.

Last year, 2,265 complaints and reports for verbal violence (threats, insults, insults) or physical violence against elected officials were recorded, up 32% compared to 2021, according to these figures from feedback made by the Ministry of the Interior to the prefectural services. Of these reports, 160 were for physical violence only, a slight decrease from 2021.

Fight cell

To respond to this increase, "an analysis and fight cell specifically dedicated to the fight against attacks on elected officials" will be created in the coming days, announced Dominique Faure in an interview with Paris Match.

Located at the Ministry of the Interior, this unit "will be responsible for identifying these phenomena, analyzing each fact, to prevent them and respond to them in full coordination with the prefectures, the police, the gendarmerie and the prosecutors," she added. Faure also said he wanted to "strengthen sanctions for those who undermine elected officials", so that the penalties incurred are similar to those committed for attacking police officers, gendarmes or firefighters.

New legal means

In February, the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) announced a 15% increase in 2022 in insults, threats and physical violence against mayors and municipal councillors.

A law promulgated on 24 January allows associations of elected officials, but also the National Assembly, the Senate, the European Parliament and local authorities to bring civil action, a right previously reserved only to departmental associations of mayors. The Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, had published in 2020 a circular to better defend mayors victims of "outrages", calling for a "systematic and rapid criminal response".

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