France prepares day protest with 70,000 police deployed
France is preparing for nationwide protests Saturday, a week after severe unrest left shops looted and buildings burned. The interior ministry says 70,000…
For France, Saturday’s protests come a week after unrest overwhelmed police and damaged businesses and public buildings. France prepares day protest with 70,000 police officers set to be deployed nationwide as authorities seek to contain further violence.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators are expected in Paris and elsewhere, according to the BBC, for a second round of protests organised by students, trade unions and anti-government groups. The planned demonstrations carry immediate consequences for residents and visitors: several museums will close, businesses have boarded up windows and a Paris Saint-Germain match has been moved.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the government would respond firmly. “We will not let anything go unchallenged,” he said.
Restrictions vary between cities
President Emmanuel Macron decreed earlier this week that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted on Saturday. Lyon, Nice and Montpellier have announced blanket bans on gatherings, while other local authorities have allowed some registered marches.
The rules are not uniform. In Marseille, authorities reversed an earlier order barring all protests and allowed a trade union-organised march to proceed. In Paris, a student union march backed by labour groups must follow a route that avoids the city centre.
Still, organisers have planned hundreds of demonstrations across France. A website associated with the revived gilet jaunes movement listed more than 500 demonstrations and around 200 other actions for Saturday, the BBC reported. The group called for Macron to resign.
The split between bans and permitted marches leaves residents facing different restrictions depending on where they live. In Paris, the Louvre, Orsay and Picasso museums will close. Some businesses have covered their windows in anticipation of possible looting, and the scheduled home match for Paris Saint-Germain has been moved to Monday.
Authorities have also pointed to calls for violence on social media. Nuñez said those calls had come from what he described as the “far left and radical extreme left”. He said officials would be uncompromising toward vandals, looters and people committing violence.
Officials cite arrests after last weekend
France is still dealing with the damage from the previous weekend, when police were vastly outnumbered by protesters and rioters, shops were looted and buildings set on fire. The ornate town hall in Limoges became one prominent symbol of the destruction.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said Friday that 232 people had been imprisoned over their role in the October 17 riots, while more than 1,100 had appeared in court. Around 260 cases involved charges of organised gang activity, he said.
Macron met high-school student representatives on Friday. They said he had made clear commitments, but urged students to “continue to mobilise”.
The protest movement began with students and expanded into a broader anti-government mobilisation, drawing support from both left and right, according to the BBC. The gilet jaunes movement, which has returned to the streets, previously organised disruptive demonstrations during Macron’s first term.
For people travelling through affected areas, the closures and route restrictions are the most immediate changes announced so far. Authorities are preparing for demonstrations across the country, with 70,000 police officers due to be deployed Saturday.
Source: bbc.co.uk
