French government denies cover-up of Nice police deployment

At the centre of the storm is Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who right-wingers accuse of security failings after France suffered its third major terror attack in 18 months.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in a statement Sunday that he is suing for alleged defamation and said he is committed to uncovering the truth about what happened.

Nice, a French Riviera city of almost 350,000 people and a stronghold of the hard right, is France’s most heavily policed urban area and has an extensive network of surveillance cameras.

Sandra Bertin, the officer in charge of video surveillance in Nice, claims the minister called her on the phone and “harassed for an hour” over her account of the attack that claimed 84 lives on July 14.

“I dealt with someone who wanted a report indicating where there were municipal police, road barriers and also clearly stating that national police could be seen at two points”, she said.

Cazeneuve also said he would sue over “grave accusations” made by Bertin.

“The national police were perhaps there, but I couldn’t see them on the video”, she told the newspaper.

The ease with which Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel reached the pedestrianised Promenade des Anglais in the 19-tonne truck, using an apparently unblocked route, has become a focus for criticism of security arrangements.

Cazeneuve called the claims “undignified” and pointed the finger at Estrosi, hinting that he had orchestrated “daily attacks” on him even though he was also partly responsible for security in Nice.

The official allegedly demanded that she make changes in her report for the night of the attack, telling her to specifically cite the presence of both local and national police at the event where the attack took place.

In a television interview, the usually unflappable Cazeneuve hit out at right-wing politicians from Nice, led by the regional president Christian Estrosi, who he accused of nearly daily lies and political broadsides in the wake of the Nice massacre.

President Francois Hollande said on Friday he had “full confidence” in Mr Cazeneuve.

However, he categorically denies talking to the policewoman, “contrary to what Madame Bertin claims”. The Paris prosecutor’s office has requested that Nice officials destroy security footage of the event, but Nice officials have fired back by filing legal paperwork to prevent having to destroy the potential evidence, which could be used in upcoming trials.

But the far right National Front weighed in saying “the minister gave the impression that he was trying to stop the truth” leaking out in what they claimed was becoming “a state scandal”.

And Nice MP Eric Ciotti, an Estrosi ally from the same opposition Republicans party, said the policewoman’s testimony was “another element which shows that something is not transparent”.