As Emmanuel Macron’s government tackles pension reform protests that see thousands of protesters in big cities take to the streets, at the Sainte-Soline reservoir in the east of the country, there have been serious clashes between policemen and eco-friendly protesters , with five injured among the latter. One would be hospitalized in serious condition. The situation quickly escalated to the march protesting against the project of the mega-reservoir under construction, wanted by a cooperative of farmers and supported by the government.
At least 3 gendarmerie vehicles were set on fire. The riot was triggered by the attempt by some groups to force the blockade that prohibited the entrance to the district of the reservoir to the demonstrators of the unauthorized march. At that point some fringes of the black block attacked the forces of order with iron bars. The French newspaper Le Monde has denounced the use of water cannons and stun grenades by the police.
Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, stressed on Twitter: “The violence against our gendarmes by the extreme left in Sainte-Soline: unspeakable, unbearable. No one should tolerate this.” In the late morning a long procession had begun to parade, made up of at least 6,000 people, according to the prefecture, around 30,000 according to the organizers.
“Bassines non merci”, the environmentalist movement of the Revolts of the Earth and the peasant Confederation, explains in a statement: “The objective is to approach and surround the basin to stop the construction site”. To keep the demonstrators at bay, the gendarmerie has deployed more than 3,000 men.
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