A Lafarge cement plant targeted by environmental activists near Marseille

The action was carried out late Saturday afternoon against the La Malle factory in Bouc-Bel-Air (Bouches-du-Rhône), Loïc Leuliette, Lafarge communications director, told AFP. France, confirming initial information from La Provence.

The Aix-en-Provence prosecutor's office told AFP that it had taken up this case on Saturday evening and had opened a flagrant investigation, entrusted to the gendarmerie.

In a video of this operation, posted on several sites, we see several dozen people dressed in white hooded coveralls walking on a path. On other shots, militants dressed in the same overalls attack a surveillance camera with hammer blows, a pipe with hatchets.

We also see what seems to be the beginnings of fires in trucks as well as a graffiti "Who are the turkeys of La Farge?" bulging on a wall.

An anonymous text accompanying this video claims the action against the "cement-polluter" by specifying that it was carried out by "200 people (who) invaded and disarmed by surprise the Lafarge de la Malle factory in Bouc-Bel -Air".

The company filed a complaint, said Mr. Leuliette, denouncing "an action of incredible violence", which caused "significant damage" and left "staff very shocked", even if there had no physical confrontation.

"The limits have really been crossed", he denounced, while cement sites have already been the target of occupations or blockades by activists in the past, in particular in June 2021 by Extinction Rebellion.

Lafarge "is doing everything possible to restart the site as quickly as possible", which employs a total of 200 people, added Mr. Leuliette, affirming that "this plant is the most advanced in terms of decarbonization, after investments of several million euros. 'euro'.

"The only possible answer"

"The ovens that have been targeted, long fueled by industrial waste and tires, are today the symbol of greenwashing", retorts on the contrary the text of claim.

By telephone, a person describing himself as "one of the activists present on the spot" told AFP that the action had been carried out by "people who have organized themselves and come from everywhere".

"The violence comes above all from these companies which invest billions to continue to produce while polluting. We consider that there is no longer a choice, it is the only possible response today to be heard", a added this interlocutor.

Activists also recalled the questioning of Lafarge - which pleaded guilty and agreed to pay 778 million dollars in the United States - for the links until 2014 of its subsidiary in Syria with terrorist groups, including the organization Islamic State (IS).

The construction sector, in the broad sense, is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, responsible for global warming. In France, it represents 20% of these emissions, compared to nearly 30% for transport.

Activists for the climate cause have multiplied spectacular actions in recent months, in particular on world-famous works of art in various museums. In France they also interrupted a semi-final of the Roland-Garros tennis tournament or the Tour de France cyclist.

The Minister Delegate for Industry Roland Lescure recalled on Twitter that the La Malle plant was one of the "50 priority sites to decarbonize", whose bosses were received in November by President Macron to offer them a "pact of decarbonization". “I will always prefer resolute action to violent activism,” he wrote.

"I always condemn those who, in the name of ecology, make violence the only expression of their struggle", for his part tweeted his colleague from the Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu.