SHARE
COPY LINK

POLICE

Anger among French police grows as Hollande vows talks

President François Hollande has vowed to meet police union leaders after a fourth night of unprecedented protests in Paris and across the country.

Anger among French police grows as Hollande vows talks
French police demonstrate on the Champs Elysées. Photo: AFP

Hundreds of police took to the streets of Paris for a fourth night of demonstrations calling for reinforcements and stiffer penalties following a string of attacks on officers.

Protests also took place in other French cities on Thursday night despite the government's efforts to contain growing anger among police as the issue of safety of law enforcement officers enters the presidential race.

Around 500 officers, most dressed in civilian clothes and some with their faces partly covered, protested near the Eiffel Tower.

“Police officers need recognition,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls said earlier Thursday.

READ ALSO: In their own words: Why police are in revolt

In their own words: Why French police are in revolt

“They are loved by the French people, and not only since Charlie,” he added, referring to an outpouring of sympathy for police following the attack last year on the Charlie Hebdo magazine.

The execution-style killing of a police officer during the assault by two extremists became one of the emblematic images of the tragedy, the first in a string of Islamist-inspired attacks that have shocked France.

“I call for calm and peace and I say to the police officers of France that they can count on my support, my solidarity, my understanding and my commitment,” Valls said.

With security at its highest possible level, officers have been up in arms over attacks on police during patrols in tough suburbs and during street demonstrations.

On October 8, a 28-year-old officer suffered serious burns when he was attacked with a petrol bomb on the outskirts of the capital. He remains in a coma.

Police unions, which have already met with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, are demanding a meeting with President Francois Hollande and calling for fixed minimum sentences for attacks on the police.

Hollande said early Friday that he planned to meet with police union leaders at the start of next week.

Under French law, police may protest only when off duty, out of uniform and provided they leave their service weapons and vehicles behind.

The Socialist government has accused former president Nicolas Sarkozy of cutting 10,00 police jobs during his 2007-2012 presidency.

Sarkozy, who is bidding to clinch the right-wing nomination as he attempts to regain the presidency, described the accusations on Thursday as “lies”.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLICE

Denmark convicts man over bomb joke at airport

A Danish court on Thursday gave a two-month suspended prison sentence to a 31-year-old Swede for making a joke about a bomb at Copenhagen's airport this summer.

Denmark convicts man over bomb joke at airport

In late July, Pontus Wiklund, a handball coach who was accompanying his team to an international competition, said when asked by an airport agent that
a bag of balls he was checking in contained a bomb.

“We think you must have realised that it is more than likely that if you say the word ‘bomb’ in response to what you have in your bag, it will be perceived as a threat,” the judge told Wiklund, according to broadcaster TV2, which was present at the hearing.

The airport terminal was temporarily evacuated, and the coach arrested. He later apologised on his club’s website.

“I completely lost my judgement for a short time and made a joke about something you really shouldn’t joke about, especially in that place,” he said in a statement.

According to the public prosecutor, the fact that Wiklund was joking, as his lawyer noted, did not constitute a mitigating circumstance.

“This is not something we regard with humour in the Danish legal system,” prosecutor Christian Brynning Petersen told the court.

SHOW COMMENTS