France: SNCF – Unprecedented sabotage of high-speed lines
Hereby we publish an unofficial translation of an article published by La Cause du Peuple.
UPDATE: After the publication of this article a group claimed the sabotage action. The group was unknown or inactive so far and sent an e-mail claiming responsibility.
This Friday marks the great opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. Now that the controversies about people being able to swim at the Seine have passed, this week the French capital becomes the capital of the convergence of the world’s police forces. 2,500 police officers from 43 countries (Qatar, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Spanish State, etc.) will reinforce the 45,000 French cops mobilized for the Olympics. Also this day, President Macron receives genocidal Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Complicity in the genocide against the Palestinians, growing reactionarization of the French State, warmongering and rising tensions with Russia, colonial repression in Kanaky: so many pretexts justifying the militarization of the Paris region this weekend.
The day, which already announced to be explosive, began with the report by the SNCF group [Translator’s note: Société nationale des chemins de fer français, National Company of the French Railways] of a “massive attack to paralyze” its network during the night, before 4 a.m. The locations were chosen to paralyze the entire SNCF high-speed network: Courtalain, at the intersection of the west and south-west lines; Arras at the north and Pagny-sur-Moselle at the east.
A similar attack was also prepared on the Vergigny site at the south, foiled by SNCF personnel on site, leaving arson materials on site. On different sites, witnesses report seeing vans. The operating mode is the same everywhere: set fire on cable arteries, safety installations (fire or switches). According to BFM [Translator’s note: a French broadcast television and radio network], an “incendiary device” (bottles filled with gasoline, equipped with a wick) had already been found on the LGV South-East while the flame passed to Marseille.
The consequences were immediate and international, disrupting traffic on the Eurostar line linked to the United Kingdom, as well as lines to the Benelux and Germany. More than 800,000 travelers will be affected this weekend while the SNCF must repair each fiber cable one by one and carry out new safety checks. All railway personnel on the tracks and electrical services will be required.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it would take care of the case, keeping the charges of “deterioration of property likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation” – exclusive jurisdiction of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, “damage and attempted damage by dangerous means by an organized gang”, “attacks on a system of processing of automated data by an organized gang” and “criminal association”, crimes and felonies punishable with a sentence of at least 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of 225,000 euros. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office has given the task of carrying out this investigation to the Anti-Terrorism Sub-Direction (SDAT) of the judiciary police.
None of these acts have yet been claimed, while the SNCF president speaks of a “band of crazy people and irresponsible people”. Politicians raise the possibility of an operation by foreign secret services (Russian). Contacted by Médiapart, a manager of the intelligence services speaks of: “far-left operating methods.”. In 2008, a case of catenary sabotage was the pretext for mobilizing anti-terrorist and intelligence services against so-called “far-left” militant groups.
