In Lyon, the Act III demonstration “against the high cost of living” authorized by the prefecture

A demonstration “against the high cost of living” planned for Saturday in Lyon received the green light from the Rhône prefecture, which had dispersed the undeclared one of October 24, the organizing unions said in a press release on Wednesday.

"Finally ! The prefecture has validated the demonstration that we declared yesterday. We are calling on high school students, students and workers to “join us in numbers”, indicate the Solidaires unions, CNT-SO Rhône-Alpes and Unef Lyon.

The prefecture confirmed having met with the organizers and given the green light to “a route from the Manufacture des Tabacs to Jean-Macé via Garibaldi and Berthelot”, outside the city center where all demonstrations have been banned in recent days.

“The organizers are committed to increasing their security to better supervise the procession. We also recalled the doctrine of protection of people and property and the prevention and management of disturbances to public order,” she adds, specifying that “the consequent security system of the 31st and the measures taken will be detailed later.”

Saturday's gathering is intended to be "a continuation of the great social movement of convergence which has shaken the country since the beginning of September", write the unions, who demand "emergency measures for public services and in the first place high schools, against the high cost of living, for the sharing of wealth" and denounce "the authoritarian and liberticidal acceleration of recent weeks".

“We will shout loud and clear that the freedom to demonstrate is not negotiable,” they still emphasize, while the prefecture had banned all gatherings last Saturday in a wider area in the center of Lyon following the violence and looting during the mobilization day of October 17.

Some 10,000 people nevertheless tried to demonstrate, grouping together erratically throughout the day in different parts of the city. The police used tear gas to disperse them.

On October 17, a demonstration of around 20,000 people in the Presqu'île was dispersed following the fire and destruction of a Tourist Office building and clashes between certain participants and the police. More than 150 businesses had been damaged, including several dozen looted. The prefecture then established a nighttime curfew within the perimeter of the shopping center until last Sunday.