According to local media, farmers, workers, teachers and parents also supported the protests, which started on September 17 and spread to different cities of the country. With the call of many unions, especially education unions, thousands of people took to the streets to support young activists in many places, including big cities such as Nantes, Lyon, Marseille and Paris.
Activists marching with banners and union flags asked the government to meet the demands of high school students. The Paris Police Department announced that it estimated that 20 to 40 thousand people would attend the support march in the capital.
On the other hand, at a time when criticism about police violence against high school students was increasing, Minister of Internal Affairs Laurent Nunez pledged that the police intervention would be proportionate. Nunez said that the police who will be on duty throughout the day will only take action to prevent attempts to damage public property.
POLICE INTERVENTION TO DEMONSTRators
The protest in support of high school students in Paris started at 14:00 local time in Republic Square. Demonstrators carried banners saying "Campuses are ruined, students are ruined", "More money for public schools, less police" and "We wanted to be educated, but we were beaten with batons". The demonstrators chanted slogans such as "Whose streets are they? Ours!", "There are police everywhere, there is no justice anywhere" and "(French President Emmanuel) Macron resign" and demanded that the government allocate more budget for education.
Demonstrators also chanted the slogan popularized by the yellow vest movement: "We are here for the dignity of workers and a better world, even if Macron does not want it." While the police intervened with pepper gas against the demonstrators, clashes broke out between the police and the protesters in some places.
During the demonstration in the city of Lyon, the police intervened with the protesters with pepper gas and batons. An activist was injured in the face near Guichard Square in the city. In the city of Rennes, an activist was injured in the head after police intervention. French MPs reacted to the disproportionate use of force by the police and called on the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take action. According to the statement made by the High School Union Union (USL) on the social media platform of the US-based company
THEY WANT TO CUT AID TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS INVOLVED IN VIOLENT INCIDENTS
Valerie Pecresse, President of the Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, said in the program she attended on BFMTV that the cost of the violent actions to the region was 7 million euros. Pecresse, who reacted to the activist youth setting fire to schools and burning garbage bins, stated that they would cut the scholarships they give to young people who damage public property and receive disciplinary punishment. While legal action was taken against more than 6 thousand people within the scope of the protests, approximately 1000 people, including 715 security guards and 215 students, were injured.
ONE WEEK BREAK FROM EDUCATION IN FRANCE!
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that education in high schools was suspended until the end of the week due to the protests organized to demand improvement of the educational conditions of high school students and occasionally violent incidents. Lecornu answered questions about the high school protests that have been going on for days and spread across the country in the question section to the government in the National Assembly.
Stating that the students and those who took to the streets to support them exercised their democratic rights, Lecornu underlined that they would not use violence in the protests. Reminding that activists set schools on fire in some cities, Lecornu said, "Burning down a high school does not improve the condition of that high school building." he said. Likewise, regarding the incident in which a teacher was beaten by students, "Lynching a teacher does not increase the number of teachers." he said.
NEARLY 5 THOUSAND YOUTH WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
Mathilde Panot, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the far-left Unyielding France (LFI) party, criticized the government's handling of the protests. Asking the government to respond to the demands of young people instead of putting pressure on high school students, Panot said that nearly 5 thousand young people were detained within the scope of the protests. Panot emphasized that political demands should be responded to through political means, not the police. While legal action was taken against more than 6 thousand people within the scope of the protests, approximately 1000 people were injured, including 715 security guards and 215 students. The protests initiated by high school students in France on September 17, demanding improvement of educational conditions, grew and spread to different cities of the country.
