According to the Minister of the Interior, more than 900 fires were set on the streets of Paris on Thursday.
24.3. 20:10
Human rights organization and the French press on Friday accused the French police of unnecessary harshness and indiscriminate arrests during protests against the French president Emmanuel Macron forced through the pension law.
Also Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatovic condemned the “excessive use of force” by the French police.
A total of 457 people were arrested in Thursday’s protests, and 441 police and other members of the security forces were injured, the country’s interior minister said by Gerald Darman.
However, according to French newspapers, among those arrested were people who had nothing to do with the protests. According to the Liberation magazine, the police arrested, among other things, two 15-year-olds on a class trip who were trying to find their place to stay.
The two spent the night in the tube, and were freed only when the Austrian embassy intervened. According to the France Inter radio channel, a jogger who had been caught indiscriminately also ended up in the pipe overnight.
According to the French Human Rights League, the authorities are “trampling on citizens’ rights with their disproportionate and dangerous use of force”.
Thursday was so far the liveliest and also the most violent day of protests in France.
More than a million people took to the streets across the country, including nearly 120,000 in Paris. Police and protesters clashed in many places. Security forces used tear gas and batons to break up the protests.
According to Interior Minister Darmanin, more than 900 fires were set on the streets of Paris on Thursday. The police had warned in advance that anarchist groups could infiltrate the peaceful demonstrators. Young men dressed in hoods and masks were seen breaking windows and setting piles of garbage on fire.
In Darmanin’s opinion, the pension law should not be withdrawn despite the protests.
“I think we should not cancel this law because of the violence. If we do that, it means we have no state. We accept democratic, social debate, but not violent debate.”
On Friday it was also said that the king of Britain Charles’s the state visit to France will be postponed due to the ongoing protests in France.
“The French and British governments decided on the matter after the president and the king spoke on the phone this morning,” the French president’s office said.
The state visit is planned for the President of France Emmanuel Macron to organize in early summer. According to Buckingham Palace, Charles and his spouse Camilla are waiting for the opportunity to travel to France as soon as a suitable time is found.
According to the British government, the visit was postponed by mutual agreement at Macron’s request. It was anticipated that the protests might affect the schedule of the king’s visit.
Charles and Camilla were due to go to France on Sunday for a three-day state visit. They would have gone to Paris first, where the biggest demonstrations have been seen.
From France, Charles was supposed to go on to visit Germany. Now he will travel directly to Germany on Wednesday.
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