France, more student protests and tension in the cities: hundreds arrested. PHOTO
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THE PROTESTS
Students are still protesting in France. Several marches and demonstrations which again today, 6 October, touched the whole country: the most important at Place de la République in Paris, where clashes occurred between demonstrators and the police. At least 256 thousand people demonstrated, of which 56 thousand in Paris for the Interior. The unions instead speak of 450 thousand demonstrators in total, of which 100 thousand in Paris. Meanwhile, President Macron has called a meeting at the Elysée to take stock with the ministers.
France, student protest: riots in several cities
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300 "HOSTILE" INDIVIDUALS IN PARIS
In the capital, the prefecture announced that it had recorded the presence of a "pre-procession" of 300 "hostile" individuals. And he added that he had "contained this group of "antagonists up to the Place de la Nation".
Protests France and Spain: reasons behind the demonstrations
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TODAY ALONE ALMOST 500 STOPPED
Today alone, 488 people were stopped across the country, according to data provided by the Interior. Among the police there are 43 injured, in addition to the 715 gendarmes and police officers injured in recent days, many of whom were victims of insults and acts of intimidation.
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SCAFFLES THROUGHOUT FRANCE
In Lyon there were scuffles between groups of young people and the police, with the use of tear gas and water cannons. In Strasbourg, however, after a peaceful march with thousands of participants, including some left-wing MEPs, several hundred students attempted to return to the centre. Here too, the officers used tear gas. The protesters erected barricades and threw objects and stones, while the police cleared the road and pushed them towards the university gardens (in the photo, the protests in Montpellier).
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EDUCATION MINISTER: "THE ABSOLUTE PRIORITY IS TO PROTECT STUDENTS"
"Our absolute priority is to protect students", declared the French Minister of Education, Édouard Geffray. Guaranteeing to "deal at this moment" with the demands of young people for a better school, the minister once again warned: at the moment, he pointed out, "215 students have been injured" since the beginning of the protests, "the vast majority due to violent individuals. In these cases we must stop those who endanger the lives of others".
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THE WOUNDED AMONG THE GENDARMS AND THE SCHOOL STAFF
At the National Assembly, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also spoke of "85 members of school staff" who had suffered injuries. This toll is "the highest in the national school system in recent decades in terms of the number of injured civil servants", said the prime minister, who condemned a "trivialisation" of the violence, calling it "unacceptable".
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LESSONS SUSPENDED UNTIL THE END OF THE WEEK
Lecornu also announced the suspension of lessons in French high schools until the end of the week to organize a "moment of internal democracy" with students. The Minister of National Education Edouard Geffray "has decided to free up some time. Starting from tomorrow morning, from Thursday and Friday, the complete suspension of ordinary teaching activities is expected to dedicate a space to internal democracy within the high school", said the prime minister.
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STUDENTS UNION: "10 BILLION ON THE TABLE OR CONTINUE PROTEST"
"We will not stop mobilizing until there are 10 billion on the table", the spokesperson of the Union Etudiante, Sabrine Kharbach, declared to BFMTV, recalling the demands of high school students and students in France. We ask to be able to "eat, sleep and have access to philosophy teachers in the final year, it is still the bare minimum", he said, adding: "We ask, above all, to stop with the contempt".
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THE ORIGINS OF THE PROTESTS AND THE ESTIMATION OF THE DAMAGES
According to data from the Régions de France association, ''damages amounting to around 20 million euros'' have been estimated since the start of the student protests in France which began in September and which have then expanded to date, resulting in a more organized and national mobilization which has already included two days of national demonstrations, 29 September and 1 October.
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THE REQUESTS
The protests originally started at a school in Créteil, in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, where students had joined their teachers to demand more resources and staff. The campaign, which began last September 17, has gone viral and has prompted students across France to join the call for government intervention against problems such as overcrowded classes, teacher absences and obsolete structures.
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MÉLENCHON AMONG THE STUDENTS
The leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) and 2027 presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon went to visit the students in the square in Paris. Prime Minister Lecornu accused LFI of pursuing the "political project" of "turning the country upside down" before the presidential elections and of "sowing chaos" since the beginning of the high school student movement. “The reality is that you are ambiguous about violence, because violence is part of your political project to destabilize the country.”
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(in the photo, the riots between police and students in Montpellier)
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(In photo, clashes between police and protesters in Montpellier)
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(in the photo, the riots in Lyon)
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(in the photo, the police charge against demonstrators in Lyon)
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(in the photo, the clashes in Lyon)
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(in the photo, the student demonstration in Paris)
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(in the photo, clashes between police and protesters in Paris)
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(in the photo, Marseille)
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(In the photo, students protesting in Montpellier)
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