Why was no counterfeit holder arrested?
Didier Lallement wishes to respond to criticisms expressed in the aftermath of the chaos which occurred at the Stade de France on the evening of the Champions League, namely why there was no arrest of a counterfeit ticket holder?
“It was difficult to see if there was an offense, justifies Didier Lallement. No element in the matter in the criminal plan allowed to do it.”
The prefect, however, earlier during his hearing called on the supporters who had been able to buy counterfeit tickets to file a complaint.
Didier Lallement “assumes” the number of supporters without a ticket
The prefect of police explains that the figure of 30 to 40,000 supporters holding counterfeit tickets came from the feedback from transport operators and field police who noted a massive arrival of people around the Stade de France. The official ensures that, even inaccurate, it “reflected a situation”, and “assumes” this figure.
The figure did not have a scientific virtue but the feedback of information, justifies Didier Lallement. There were far more people than the capacity of the stadium. If these people had pressured the roadblocks and the gates we were going to extreme difficulties.”
Moreover, for the prefect, the exact number of people who were upstream of the roadblocks would not have had any consequences on the events that took place in the evening.
“Whether there are around the stadium 40,000, 30,000 or 20,000 people, that does not change the fact that there were tens of thousands of people likely to fit into the system. In operational terms, there was not much importance.”
“We knew that our fan zone system would not include all of the people without tickets”
Didier Lallement is questioned about the preparation for securing the event. Two last-minute elements were added to this preparation: the RER strike and the note from the National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism which provided for the massive arrival of Liverpool supporters without tickets.
To answer the first problem, Didier Lallement said that the services relied on “past experiences” and “the establishment of roadblocks for those who leave the RER to arrive by a wider avenue”. The prefect of police recognizes that this diversion was put in place “too late”.
Regarding fans without a ticket, the authorities relied on their fan zone system. Even if these spaces could not contain all the fans, the police chief believed that those who had not been able to access the fan zones “would go to see the match in different bars and cafes”.
In addition, the prefect also recognizes that his services had not “considered” the presence of supporters without a ticket by “the presence of counterfeit tickets”.
Lallement specifies where the number of counterfeit notes comes from: “Maybe I was wrong”
Didier Lallement: “I clearly saw that this figure was being debated. I wrote it down, I’m giving you the figure as we had it at the time of the events. They came to us from the operators’ reports, this I’m not the one who counts the people in the wagons, but also the systems we had. We had personnel deployed in transport. I had both the figures coming from the operators but also the findings of the field officials of the volume elements. The figure did not have a scientific virtue. But the feedback of crucial information which is that there were far more people than the capacity of the stadium.
“Perhaps I was mistaken in the figure of 30,000 to 40,000 which I gave to the minister. But I never claimed that this figure, at a few thousand, was perfectly correct. But it seems to me to reflect the situation.”
According to Lallement, the presence of counterfeit banknotes “had not been considered”
Didier Lallement: “The presence of ticketless supporters, we had not, on our side, considered it with fake tickets. Things had not been considered in this way. To our knowledge, beyond the flows that were arriving , there was the presence of supporters on the outskirts of our dams. There was a very large number of people likely to put pressure on the dams.
Lallement justifies the use of tear gas
Didier Lallement: “We used tear gas, the only means to our police knowledge to push back a crowd, except to charge it. I think it would have been a mistake to charge people. Tear gas worked. I well aware that people of good faith have been gassed, sometimes even families, I’m sorry, but there was no other way.”
Lallement explains why he lifted the roadblocks
Didier Lallement: “I decided to lift the roadblocks. They had to be lifted because they were no longer useful. The English obviously gathered in front of the gates. These gates threatened to let go and some were even crossed. If thousands of people, of whom I did not necessarily know if they had seats, had entered the stadium without having a ticket, there would have been no match.
Lallement: “It was I who gave this figure (the counterfeit banknotes) to the minister”
Didier Lallement: “It was I who gave this figure (30,000 to 40,000 counterfeit notes) to the minister, and I fully assume it. The red thread of my whole evening was to save lives.”
Lallement’s “promise” to the victims
Didier Lallement: “I encourage English and Spanish nationals to file a complaint, so that we can prosecute their attackers but also if they ever bought counterfeit tickets. I promise them that we will do everything to find the culprits and present them to the justice.”
Lallement speaks of “failure”: “People have been attacked when we owed them security”
Didier Lallement: “Not evading my responsibilities, I try to look as clearly as possible at what happened that evening. It is obviously a failure because people were pushed around or assaulted when we owed them security.”
“It is also a failure because the image of the country has been shaken”, slice the prefect of police, who evokes “an injury”.
“But I must insist, beyond this failure, on the fact that faced with a major crisis, in a degraded and difficult context, we ensured that the match was held and above all that there was no no serious injuries or fatalities,” he said.
Didier Lallement “assumes full responsibility for police management”
The hearing of Didier Lallement before the Senate Law Commission has just begun. The Paris police chief says he is “the only operational person responsible for public order and safety” during the Champions League final.
“I therefore assume full responsibility for the police management of the day of Saturday May 28, he declares. I am before you and before the country the only operational accountant.
The prefect of police wanted to “greet the police and the gendarmes” who intervened that evening. “Without them a tragedy could have occurred,” pleads the official.
Beginning of the hearing of Didier Lallement before the Senate
Let’s go for Didier Lallement before the Senate
Several types of counterfeit tickets identified according to the Stade de France consortium, only 1 in 4 true
Info BFMTV – According to a source close to the investigation at BFMTV, the security manager within the Stade de France consortium was heard as part of this investigation. According to him, there were several types of fake tickets that evening: fake tickets on phone QR code screenshot, fake thermal tickets, copies of tickets on A4 sheets or photos on phone.
He indicated that there were also many non-ticket holders, representing 60% of the supporters present around the Stade de France. During checks, security officials quickly realized that only one in four tickets was true.
>> All information on counterfeit banknotes here
MV
Hi there!
Welcome to our live to follow the hearings in the Senate of the prefect of police of Paris, Didier Lallement and of the French Football Federation, who was in charge of security on the evening of the Champions League final. The committee will also hear Steve Rotheram, mayor of the metropolis of Liverpool attacked on leaving the Stadium.
The purpose of these hearings is to shed light on the incidents at the Stade de France which marred the Champions League final on May 28.