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More than 7,000 police to be on duty in Paris for May 1st protests

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner on Tuesday said more than 7,400 police and security forces would be deployed in Paris for Wednesday's May Day marches in case of violence by protesters.

More than 7,000 police to be on duty in Paris for May 1st protests
Photo: AFP

The government is bracing for a repeat of last year's May 1st violence, when the government was caught off guard by some 1,200 trouble-makers who ran amok in the capital, vandalising businesses and clashing with police.

READ ALSO Metro station closures and protest routes – what you need to know about May 1st 2019

Castaner said the authorities had found several groups on social media urging protesters to turn Paris into “the capital of rioting” on Wednesday.

“Based on the information we have, 1,000 to 2,000 radical activists, potentially reinforced by individuals coming from abroad, could try to spread lawlessness and violence,” he told a press conference.

 

Nearly 200 motorcycle units will be deployed across the capital to respond quickly to flare-ups of violence, and drones will be used to track protesters' movements.

Castaner said police would also avail themselves of a new law allowing pre-emptive searches of anyone planning to march, saying a handful of individuals had already been detained on Tuesday.

One man was found with a backpack containing “an extendable truncheon, a switchblade and protective gloves,” Castaner said.

French security forces have already been on high alert for nearly six months over the weekly “yellow vest” demonstrations that have often spiralled into rioting and running battles with police.

Many of the violent protesters are anti-capitalist youths dressed in black and wearing face masks, often called “black blocs”.

Adding to the risks, police worry that yellow vests may turn out for the traditional May Day march for workers' rights.

Though so far, union leaders have been eclipsed by the grass-roots movement, many of whose leaders have rejected calls to make common cause to secure improved living conditions and spending power.

Member comments

  1. The Government should also investigate how these protests have started suddenly after
    the President increased fuel price a few months ago and this socalled Yellow waists started destroying public property.Who are the people behind this should be investigated and if found antinational appropriate measures should be taken.Eurpope in general and France in particular was a peaceful place.Who disturbed this peace and what is their purpose should be known to the Establishment.

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PROTESTS

Clashes mar rally against far right in north-west France

Riot police clashed with demonstrators in the north-western French city of Rennes on Thursday in the latest rally against the rise of the far-right ahead of a national election this month.

Clashes mar rally against far right in north-west France

The rally ended after dozens of young demonstrators threw bottles and other projectiles at police, who responded with tear gas.

The regional prefecture said seven arrests were made among about 80 people who took positions in front of the march through the city centre.

The rally was called by unions opposed to Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National party (RN), which is tipped to make major gains in France’s looming legislative elections. The first round of voting is on June 30.

“We express our absolute opposition to reactionary, racist and anti-Semitic ideas and to those who carry them. There is historically a blood division between them and us,” Fabrice Le Restif, regional head of the FO union, one of the organisers of the rally, told AFP.

Political tensions have been heightened by the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb, for which two 13-year-old boys have been charged. The RN has been among political parties to condemn the assault.

Several hundred people protested against anti-Semitism and ‘rape culture’ in Paris in the latest reaction.

Dominique Sopo, president of anti-racist group SOS Racisme, said it was “an anti-Semitic crime that chills our blood”.

Hundreds had already protested on Wednesday in Paris and Lyon amid widespread outrage over the assault.

The girl told police three boys aged between 12 and 13 approached her in a park near her home in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie on Saturday, police sources said.

She was dragged into a shed where the suspects beat and raped her, “while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks”, one police source told AFP.

France has the largest Jewish community of any country outside Israel and the United States.

At Thursday’s protest, Arie Alimi, a lawyer known for tackling police brutality and vice-president of the French Human Rights League, said voters had to prevent the far-right from seizing power and “installing a racist, anti-Semitic and sexist policy”.

But he also said he was sad to hear, “anti-Semitic remarks from a part of those who say they are on the left”.

President Emmanuel Macron called the elections after the far-right thrashed his centrist alliance in European Union polls. The far-right and left-wing groups have accused each other of being anti-Semitic.

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