Laurent Nuñez defends the action of the police in the face of high school demonstrations

The police "do not repress the youth" but "protect" pupils and students wishing to "peacefully carry their demands", assured Sunday the Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez, refuting any "disproportionate" intervention.

Police officers and gendarmes “intervene firmly and without delay to put an end to the damage, violence and abuses committed by troublemakers and this with proportionality under the control of their hierarchy and, where applicable, of Justice”, affirmed the Minister of the Interior on his X account.

Responding to the magistrates' union (SM), which called for an end to "repressing youth to silence them", Laurent Nuñez deplored "serious and unfounded accusations of supposedly brutal and disproportionate interventions which would also be directed against 'racialized young people from working-class neighborhoods'". He also regretted “accusatory communication totally disconnected from the real world” on the part of the union.

Since Monday, the authorities have counted more than 5,000 arrests, including around 85% of minors, on the fringes of the “high school movement”. On Friday alone, marked by tensions with the police, there were more than 1,700 arrests during this mobilization to demand more resources, more teachers and denounce the ban on cell phones in establishments.

The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), the “police of police”, has received five investigations.