High school protests in France: Harsh statement from Interior Minister Nunez

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez evaluated the high school protests that have been going on for days on the TF1 channel where he was a guest.

Nunez reminded that yesterday's actions affected 735 schools and stated that there were incidents of social violence near 158 of these schools.

Arguing that different objects were thrown at law enforcement officers, teachers, journalists and ordinary citizens within the scope of these events and that these people were targeted, Nunez said that he instructed law enforcement forces to systematically intervene in the excesses experienced during the protests.

"We forgot that they were high school students"

Nunez stated that law enforcement forces took action against 1747 people yesterday within the scope of the protests, and that the number of people taken action since September 28 exceeded 5 thousand.

Pointing to those who went rogue during the protests, Nunez said, "We forgot that they are high school students, they are just punks, criminals. Law enforcement forces do their job in an extraordinary way and catch them." made his assessment.

Nunez noted that 85 percent of the people caught by law enforcement officers were underage and said that he did not instruct law enforcement officers to act with restraint.

Stating that he instructed the law enforcement forces to use all medium-level weapon equipment in their possession within the scope of these actions, Nunez stated that an investigation is being carried out against 5 police officers regarding the actions, and that the judiciary will decide whether the relevant police officers acted proportionately.

"You are provoking high school students"

Socialist presidential candidate in France, Segolene Royal, reacted to Nunez's statements and called for the release of all high school students, in her statement on the social media platform of the US-based company X.

Royal said about the current government, "You are provoking them (high school students), just like you did for the yellow vests, firefighters, medical personnel, farmers." he said.

Stating that every police officer should respect the right to protest, Royal said, "This government, which is coming to an end and is resorting to violence to make people forget its incompetence and the bankruptcy it has dragged the country into, is disgusting. The international community is horrified." made his assessment.

Referring to the presidential elections to be held in France in 2027, Royal said, "They have 200 more days to hurt us. Nobody around this doomed and uncontrollable ruler is taking action to limit the damage." he said.

In France, law enforcement officers can take people against whom they take action within the scope of protests to the police station for identification or detain them.