Interview with Nicole Klein, Prefect of Loire-Atlantique

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EDITORIAL

It is always interesting to do comparative analyzes to understand human behavior and what it reflects about society.

On July 26, 2016, Nicole Klein was stationed in Seine-Maritime at the time of the assassination, in Saint-Etienne du Rouvray, of Father Hamel. As she recounts in the interview below, she specifies the conditions that led her to give the order to shoot the two Islamists who had stormed the chapel. She explains: "They came out shouting 'Allahu Akbar!' I took my decision. I take no pride in it. ".

Strange, we find ourselves in exactly the same situation that the Prefect Michel Cadot, Prefect of Paris, had to face in the case of Madame Sarah Halimi. Unfortunately for Sarah, the Prefect of Paris did not have the same analysis as Nicole Klein, which was fatal to Mrs. Halimi.

The recurring question about the responsibility of the police, or in any case, the chain of command having led to this inaction, is again on the carpet.

Yes, in a similar case, on the sole fact that it is heard "Alla or Akbar" the appropriate decision was taken by the prefect! Why then, it was not the same in the case of Sarah Halimi? The investigation showed that the death of Sarah Halimi was due to her defenestration and that she would certainly have survived the acts of barbarism she had suffered. So why ? Yes why ? Is the decision of non-intervention attributable to the Prefect of Police, or Director General of the National Police who was to inform the Minister, or to the Minister himself?

The question, in any case, deserves to be asked. If only out of respect for the victim's family!

It is therefore wisely that Maître Goldnadel lodged his complaint for failure to assist a person in danger, and it is wisely that the "Truth and Justice for Sarah Halimi" Support Committee wants to have the appropriate answers to these questions.

And it is an incomprehensible mistake on the part of the other councils who oppose it under false pretenses.

We very sincerely hope that the investigation on this point will prosper, that a judicial investigation will be opened and that an Investigating Judge (perhaps the same as in the Sarah Halimi Case but this is not mandatory ) will be very quickly appointed by the prosecutor in order to clarify the reasons for these multiple dysfunctions.

This interview with the prefect Nicole Klein accentuates our unease about the conditions of intervention of the police forces in the Sarah Halimi case!

Finally, if we can justify the non-qualification of assassination with an aggravating circumstance of anti-Semitism in order to avoid the constitution of a civil party by multiple anti-racist associations, which would encumber the investigation, and if we can assuming that this qualification will come later in the course of the instruction (which one can strongly assume, the contrary would then be unbearable), one really does not understand the reasons why the aggravating circumstance ofassassination preceded by acts of barbarism was not accepted!!!

Justice speaks on behalf of the French people, it is independent and free, it should certainly not be subject to pressure from the executive or the presidents of associations, but it must listen to the cries of pain of the French people !

We believe in the Justice of our country as long as it behaves fairly and does not include in its equation the ethnicity, religion or political opinion of both the attacked and the aggressor.

However, it is worth remembering that this has not always been the case in our history, especially when the victim was Jewish.

We are sure, of course, that this is not the case in the case that interests us, but it is useful to remember this when a judge is sent back to correctional proceedings for having failed in his elementary duty of impartiality and the when ideology plagues our entire society.

We therefore remain vigilant! Confident in our Justice and in our Institutions!

Yes, we remain optimistic and confident but above all vigilant!

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Nicole Klein: "They came out shouting: 'Allahu Akbar!' I took my decision"

INTERVIEW – Prefect of Loire-Atlantique, Nicole Klein was stationed in Seine-Maritime at the time of Father Hamel's assassination on July 26, 2016. It was she who gave the order to shoot the two Islamists.

How do you decide on such an order? Only?

I think these young radical Islamists wanted to die. They came out shouting “Allahu Akbar!”. I took my decision. I take no pride in it. The mechanism consisted of the BRI and the BAC. The departmental director of public security coordinated it, in the presence of the regional director of the PJ. He called me to ask me what to do. I judged that the conditions were met and that we had sufficient manpower to act. The procedure was followed. I did my job.

It was not necessary to ask Bernard Cazeneuve?

No. However, beyond the territorially competent prefect, the director general of the national police informed the minister. He knew minute by minute what was happening. But the decision was up to me, as the head of public order in my department. This is the role of a prefect.

“This act of barbarism was unsustainable. That's why I had no hesitation."

Could the tragedy have been avoided? How are you experiencing this episode today?

We made a feedback between prefects, at the end of May, in Nantes. One of the two terrorists, Abdel Malik Petitjean, was unknown to our services, but not the second, Adel Kermiche. He was stuck S. His name was mentioned in the security meetings that I chaired each week, when we took stock of the people who could present a risk. But no precursory sign had come up. The place of the attack was totally improbable: a small church at the bottom of a village, five people at mass. The judge had considered that Kermiche could benefit from a conditional release. And he left on the appointed day, at the authorized time. How to predict?

Is this affair the one that will leave the most traces on you?

Undeniably. I left the ENA in 1987, I have a certain seniority in the career of prefect and I experienced difficult business, but this act of barbarism was unbearable. That's why I had no hesitation. Moreover, a rare enough fact to be underlined, no one contested the decision taken.

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