Number of injured in French student protests rises, police enforcement faces strict scrutiny

(Central News Agency, Paris, 10th, Comprehensive Foreign News Report) French student protests continue to spread, and police law enforcement has caused an increase in the number of injured, and law enforcement methods are facing strict scrutiny. Family members and lawyers said that last week, police fired tear gas canisters at 14-year-old Aiden at close range, causing his jaw to be fractured and many of his teeth to be shattered.

Lawyers said Eden was sitting on a low wall a few meters away from the protest site in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone, swiping his phone. Prosecutors said a police officer walked up to him and hit him with a baton, and Ayden fought back. Another officer then fired tear gas from a Cougar launcher, hitting him in the face.

Reuters reported that a police spokesman said he did not comment on cases under investigation. The prosecutor's office said police said the student was involved in a confrontation with police and that he acted to protect himself and his colleagues. The police officer was formally investigated on the 6th for allegedly committing violence by a civil servant that caused permanent disability or disfigurement.

This case is one of 24 cases currently being investigated by the National Inspectorate of Police (IGPN), which are all related to the police's handling of the wave of student protests that have lasted for more than two weeks.

Through interviews and a review of legal documents, Reuters documented 28 cases of injuries resulting from police use of force, 15 of which are also under investigation by the National Police Inspectorate. Relevant cases involve law enforcement methods such as rubber bullets, flash bangs, tear gas, batons and mounted police charges.

In two of the cases, the victims lost an eye or suffered eye injuries from rubber bullets. Another case occurred in Lens, where a 15-year-old boy had his hand blown off. Interior Secretary Laurent Nunez said the injuries may have been caused by flash-bang grenades and he has ordered a moratorium on the use of flash-bang grenades while the case is investigated.

Nunez said in a radio interview on the 7th that about 200 students were injured, but very few of them were caused by police enforcement. "Our first priority, of course, is protecting high school students," he said.

Sebastian Roche, a police researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, pointed out: "France is an anomaly in terms of the use of weapons and the number of victims. We have four cases of irreversible serious injuries in just 12 days, and the victims are all minors."

"This level of violence is unprecedented in contemporary French history," he said.