The government of France reported on Saturday night that nearly 1,000 people were arrested during demonstrations held in different cities across the country, which drew thousands of participants and were followed by some clashes.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the number of detainees, noting that the figure could rise.
However, Nuñez highlighted that the protests "went ahead without problems," although security forces at times faced "risk groups (...) mostly dressed in black, militants of the radical far left, of the ultra-left."
The Secretary of State also reported that two people were "seriously injured": one in the city of Toulouse, in the southwest of the country, and another in Clermont-Ferrand, in central France.
During the clashes, police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse protesters in several cities, including Paris, while barricades were set on fire in Marseille and the boards protecting a store were torn down in Bordeaux.
So far, however, the authorities have managed to prevent unrest and looting on the scale seen last weekend, which produced some of the worst scenes of disorder in modern French history, as reported by the BBC.
To that end, some 70,000 police officers were deployed and restrictions were imposed in several localities...
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The government of France reported on Saturday night that nearly 1,000 people were arrested during the demonstrations held in different cities of the country, which drew thousands of participants and were followed by some clashes. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the number of detainees, specifying that the figure could rise. However, Nuñez highlighted that the protests "went ahead without problems," although security forces occasionally faced "risk groups (...) mostly dressed in black, militants of the radical far left, of the ultra-left." The Secretary of State also reported that two people were "seriously injured": one in the city of Toulouse, in the southwest of the country, and another in Clermont-Ferrand, in the center of the country. During the clashes, police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse demonstrators in several cities, including Paris, while barricades were set on fire in Marseille and the boards protecting a store were torn down in Bordeaux. Demonstrators clash with police in Paris, during a new day of protests in France. Screenshot. But so far the authorities managed to prevent unrest and looting on the scale seen last weekend, which produced some of the worst scenes of disorder in modern French history, as reported by the BBC. To that end, some 70,000 police officers were deployed and restrictions were imposed in several localities to prevent today's protests, over the cost of living and poor school conditions, from escalating into the kind of chaos of the previous Saturday, when police officers were outnumbered and hundreds of looted businesses and burned buildings were counted. President Emmanuel Macron decreed earlier this week that only demonstrations organized by recognized unions would be allowed. In addition, hundreds of people have been jailed for vandalism, arson and looting following summary trials held in recent days. According to the French Interior Ministry, today's demonstrations drew some 410,000 people, while the unions put the figure at around 800,000. Thousands of people took part in the new day of demonstrations in the French capital. Screenshot. In Paris alone, there were between 110,000 and 250,000 participants, even though the police prefecture changed the route to a non-central area at the last minute. Meanwhile, some 13,000 people joined a demonstration against the far-right party National Rally in the city of Orléans, in the north-central part of the country, which proceeded peacefully. The presidential candidate of the radical left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who took part in the demonstration in the French capital, said that Macron must "give in" and address France's social discontent or face repeated protests, as reported by The Guardian. "Given the current situation, I believe he will eventually understand that this will be repeated every week," Mélenchon said.