Shortly after 7:00 am, the police entered the portion of the gardens occupied by the "jadists" (gardens to be defended) who have occupied the premises for a few months in order to prevent the start of work. This project is, according to them, the sign of an unreasonable urbanization against the tide of the ecological emergency.
"In execution of the court decision which was rendered, we proceeded to the evacuation of the ten occupants who were present", declared to AFP an official source, specifying that the operation had taken place in an overall peaceful manner.
As soon as the militants left, the destruction of their facilities began to give free rein to construction machinery. "A security company will come, all of this will be closed and work will begin," the source continued.
An occupant of the premises is currently in custody for "insults" and "violence" towards the police during the evacuation, she added.
The allotment gardens must be reduced by nearly 4.000 m2 of plots for the construction of a new aquatic center.
The infrastructure should be used to train athletes for the 2024 Olympics and will then be open to residents of Aubervilliers, a popular city in the Parisian suburbs.
"We witness the destruction of the gardens by an excavator completely unarmed, it is an incredible violence. We are surrounded by CRS who take us for terrorists", testified Camille, an environmental activist arrived quickly on the spot, reached by phone by AFP.
Opponents filed on Monday an appeal against the building permit for the project costing 33,6 million euros carried by the city of Aubervilliers, which notably benefits from around 10 million euros in subsidies from of the Solideo, the delivery company for Olympic books.
Defenders of allotment gardens called on social networks for a demonstration Thursday at 18 p.m. in front of the town hall of Aubervilliers.