Hundreds of thousands of citizens have marched on Saturday to various cities in France, to largely peaceful protests in support of students’ requests for more teaching and improvement of amortized school objects.
Protests were held at a time when President Emmanuel Macron is facing a social and political crisis in recent months of his mandate.
However, demonstrations in some towns were accompanied by clashes between protesters and police. France’s Interior Ministry announced that a total of 1,314 people have been arrested, while 75 fires and 24 looted shops have been reported. According to authorities, these figures are lower than those last weekend.
In the southern town of Nice, the prosecution announced on Sunday that 59 people have been detained by police, including 11 suspects for belonging to far-right groups. They were allegedly gathered for the purpose of committing violent acts.
According to the prosecution, several of them were arrested in two vehicles, where masks, gloves, gas sprays and sticks were found. Local media had reported that extreme right groups had gone to the centre of Nice and targeted demonstrators.
In Paris, according to government estimates, at least 110 thousand people marched across the eastern part of the city. In addition to supporting high school students, protesters expressed dissatisfaction with the high cost of living and the way the government is managing protests.
They criticised the use of police forces against students over the past month, seeking political solutions instead of police interventions.
Most of the march in Paris took place in a peaceful atmosphere. Among the protesters were families of children, while some carried banners with messages against police action, such as Shtefya gives birth to rebellion and way right to protest.
At the end of the demonstration, however, groups of masked men, who did not seem to have participated in the peaceful march, appeared in Porte de Vincennes, in eastern Paris.
Some of them threw bottles of glass and stones toward the police, which responded with tear gas, water balls, and stun grenades. A garbage container burned during the incidents and fireworks were thrown at the police.
Order forces also intervened against a larger group of protesters at the end of the Paris march, using rubber sticks. Meanwhile, police used tear gas to prevent protesters in Lyons, Lila, Montpelje, Nanta and Toulouse from reaching city centres.
Several garbage containers were burned in Marseilles during clashes with police. At least two people were badly injured, one in Clermon-Fera and the other in Toulouse. According to reports, the injured person in Toulouse has had a few fingers broken by the explosion.
The French government estimated that at least 400,000 people participated in Saturday’s protests across the country, while trade unions claimed the number was double that assessment.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said there were high risk groups in some marches, which, according to him, broke away from the main crowd to commit acts of violence.
Over 70 thousand police officers engaged in French cities. Many shops were covered with protection, while some museums remained closed, as authorities feared violence could be repeated after last weekend’s riots, reports The Guardian.
Then, despite peaceful protests, France experienced one of the most violent days of unrest in recent years. Public buildings were burned, hundreds of shops were damaged and looted, while at least 2,700 people were arrested in various cities in the country.
In Saturday’s protests, the dissatisfaction with Macron also increased due to the ban on organised demonstrations organised outside unions, which the government had named illegals. Protesters also rejected measures that kept demonstrators away from city centres.
Source Layer: Dukeagini