Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested in France after hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets for another day of demonstrations, with clashes between demonstrators and police reported in several cities on Saturday. According to the BBC, police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds in…...
Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested in France after hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets for another day of demonstrations, with clashes between demonstrators and police reported in several cities on Saturday.
According to the BBC, police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds in Paris and other cities after largely peaceful demonstrations, while barricades were set alight in Marseille and protesters dismantled boards from a building in Bordeaux.
However, authorities have so far prevented a repeat of the widespread rioting and looting that followed last weekend’s demonstrations, which resulted in more than 2,500 arrests and extensive damage to businesses.
France’s interior ministry estimated that 410,000 people participated in Saturday’s protests, while trade unions put the figure at about 800,000.
About 70,000 police officers were deployed across the country, with restrictions imposed in several cities to prevent the demonstrations over rising living costs and poor school conditions from escalating into widespread disorder.
President Emmanuel Macron had earlier declared that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted. Hundreds of people have also been jailed in recent days following expedited court hearings over vandalism, arson and looting.
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In Paris, clashes erupted towards the end of a march from Porte d’Italie to Porte de Vincennes. Police deployed an elite unit usually involved in tackling organised crime and counter-terrorism as some protesters erected makeshift barricades and threw objects at officers.
Riot police also charged groups of masked youths accused of smashing the windows of a car dealership.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said “several thousand radical activists gathered at the rear of the march, including around 500 individuals identified as rioters”, according to the report by AFP.
In Marseille, rubbish bins were set ablaze and metal sheets were used to block streets. A law enforcement vehicle was seen driving through a burning barricade in the southern port city.
In Bordeaux, protesters wearing dark clothing and face coverings removed boards from a building to construct a street barricade, while police in Lyon deployed tear gas grenades to disperse a crowd that had reportedly gathered in an area prohibited by local authorities.
“There were around 150 of us, mostly secondary school and university students. Then the tear gas came almost immediately. You could barely see anything in the street,” a protester in Lyon said.
Nuñez later confirmed that nearly 1,000 people had been arrested, adding that the figure was expected to rise.
He also disclosed that two people had been “seriously injured”, one in Toulouse in south-western France and the other in Clermont-Ferrand in the country’s central region.
Earlier, a peaceful demonstrator in Paris, identified as Zelie, told the BBC that protesters were “really frustrated” and had been “suffering a lot” since Macron assumed office.
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“They keep us quiet. They take our money, they tax us a lot and we can’t say anything. Today we are in the streets because it’s been too long, it’s been too much,” the 26-year-old said.
Two masked teenage protesters, who declined to give their names, also said young people felt abandoned by the government.
“I think looting is really not good,” one of them said, referring to the previous weekend’s unrest. “But it’s because of poverty and the violence of the police.”
He added that the demonstrations would end “when we have a response to our demands. We really want a change in France”.
Meanwhile, about 13,000 people attended a peaceful rally against the hard-right National Rally party in Orléans, north-central France.
Similar demonstrations over economic and political grievances also took place in other European cities on Saturday.
In Barcelona, Spain, more than 100 people were arrested after a student protest descended into what local authorities described as “gratuitous violence”.
In Tirana, the Albanian capital, riot police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of anti-government demonstrators, while clashes were also reported in Brussels, Belgium.
In Milan, northern Italy, a major security operation involving hundreds of soldiers and police prevented protesters from gathering, amid fears of a repeat of the previous week’s violence, when demonstrators set fires, smashed windows and looted shops.
Last weekend, about 550,000 people participated in demonstrations against rising fuel prices and the cost of living, following weeks of student protests. The unrest that followed led to more than 2,500 arrests.
Although the marches initially remained largely peaceful, they later descended into violence, looting and destruction. More than 2,000 shops and other businesses across France were reportedly affected.
France’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry estimated the damage “at hundreds of millions euros”.
AFP also reported that one demonstrator had a hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade, while about 1,000 police officers were injured.
Authorities subsequently imposed overnight curfews in Paris and other cities.
The protests come six months before France’s presidential election, with leading contenders blaming Macron and his ministers for the unrest.