Mayor meets religious community representatives

Since the incident in Trappes, the mayor of Besançon has held meetings with representatives of religious communities to express solidarity and emphasize the importance of dialogue, cohesion, and living together in the face of racism, antisemitism, and other forms of discrimination, according to the city.

Meetings continue over the weekend

These meetings continued over the weekend, with the mayor receiving representatives of religious communities again today at 11:30 a.m. before attending a solemn event at 12:15 p.m. on the Esplanade des Droits de l'Homme in Besançon.

Event participants are carefully selected

To maintain the republican nature of the event, the city decided to invite only state representatives, informed elected officials, religious community representatives, and the press, who were notified late. The city states that this gathering will not lead to any further official communications.

Opposition criticizes late notification

Séverine Véziès, a member of the opposition in Besançon for France Insoumise, criticized the city on Monday for only informing her about the event at 9:15 a.m. on Monday, after the opposition elected officials had requested on Saturday for a ceremony to be held at 6:00 p.m. on Place Granvelle in front of the statue of Victor Hugo.