Patrick Kanner, president of the socialist group in the Senate and former Minister of Sports, said on Friday June 10 on franceinfo that the destruction of CCTV images of the Stade de France during the Champions League final on May 28 could “become a matter of state”, we learned Thursday during the hearings by the Senate. Especially since “neither the Minister of the Interior, nor the prefect of police, nor the Keeper of the Seals had the intelligent, useful reflex, which would have been to finally mobilize the judicial authorities to demand these videos”explains Patrick Kanner.
franceinfo: What does the announcement of the automatic destruction of images from Stade de France surveillance cameras mean to you?
Erwan Le Prevost: This case can become a matter of state. I’m not saying it’s a state scandal, but it could become a state affair insofar as, obviously, neither the Minister of the Interior, nor the prefect of police, nor the Keeper of the Seals had the intelligent, useful reflex, which would have been to finally mobilize the judicial authorities to demand these videos. Either incompetence, negligence or we have let it slip by thinking that it is an element of analysis that will thus disappear naturally. I was Minister of Sports at the time of François Hollande and therefore I was the organizer, with Bernard Cazeneuve, of the security of Euro 2016.
I systematically went to the security PC during matches. It’s an incredibly precise tool, very useful for this type of thing. The Minister of Sports, even if she had only been appointed on May 20, should have had the reflex to ask for these videos. The Minister of the Interior even more. Why didn’t they ask? We must assume. To assume is to take responsibility. Today, allow me the expression, the executive is hiding in this business.
Do you think it would be useful to audition English supporters?
The Senate is doing its job. He has so far heard the French authorities. We will continue to do so. Why not ! It is not a commission of inquiry. We are not at that stage yet. So, since there is no conflict with ongoing legal proceedings, we have every facility to listen to people who agree to come. We cannot summon them. Liverpool supporters who would come to testify to shed light on the manifestation of the truth in this case, that could be useful. This is a suggestion that I will share with my colleague François-Noël Buffet, chairman of the Senate law commission.
Should we broaden the investigation into the violence suffered by English supporters from both organized gangs and even the police?
The Senate is not a judicial authority. We are here to contribute to the manifestation of the truth. We really take our part in the matter since otherwise no one would have spoken about it. Still, there have to be complaints filed. Anyone who has suffered violence, wherever they come from, must be able to file a complaint so that once again, justice can pass in the matter.
These events have discredited France’s ability to organize very high-level sporting events. I regret it for having contributed to obtaining the Olympic Games and also to obtaining the 2023 World Cup as Minister of Sports at the time. The issue of security was a major one in the files we presented. Within hours, we lost our credibility. Today, the best way to find her is for all the light to be shed on the events. That is why there are these hearings in the Senate.
According to you, the revelations on the videos would require to audition again the actors of this evening?
Yes quite. It would not be useless, possibly, to re-examine the Minister of the Interior. Perhaps to question the members of the security PC who saw the images. Again, these are invitations to testify. These are not invitations. Obviously, everyone lends itself to this investigative work, which is carried out by a legitimate authority, Parliament in this area.