French local authorities have decided to suspend work on a controversial dam after the death last week of an activist protesting against the project, reports The Guardian.
The executive council in charge of the project in the south-western Tarn region decided to freeze work on the dam but did not definitively scrap it.
It was impossible in the light of the tragedy to continue any work at the site of the Sivens dam project, said Thierry Carcenac, head of the region’s executive council. “What happened was terrible and should never happen again,” he added.
Rémi Fraisse, 21, died in the early hours of Sunday during violent clashes between security forces and protesters against the project. It was the first death during a protest in mainland France since 1986.
Initial investigations showed traces of TNT on his clothes and skin, suggesting he may have been killed by a police stun grenade.
France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, who has come under fire over the incident, has since banned the use of the grenades, which are designed to stun rather than kill.
Read more of the AFP report published by The Guardian.
Read Mediapart's coverage of the story here.