“We are not free in France”: in Paris, the curfew was respected but arouses anger

After a weekend of demonstrations marked by scenes of violence, it was time for curfews. Until 6 a.m. Monday morning, minors could no longer leave their homes in Nice and Lille. On the Lyon side in the hypercenter, all residents are concerned. The same for Châtelet-Les Halles as well as Place de la République in Paris where the curfew is completely respected.

Ribbons and CRS trucks block access to the square located in the east of the capital. A few minutes before, the police warned: “From 11 p.m., a curfew will be in place on Place de la République.”

A police officer has just asked Ilyes to leave. “Ah no, there is no freedom!” exclaims the young man. This very unhappy 17 year old high school student. There is still no announcement to satisfy him and he considers this curfew revolting: "There are trucks, a CRS team... We are not free in France. We no longer even have the right to move around a square peacefully. Even if we have done nothing, we do not have the right to remain seated in a square."

“We will see if in return we will respond to our requests”

He came by bus and train from Seine-et-Marne with his friend Rudy. The latter speaks of the curfew as an authoritarian measure: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity… There is no freedom there. There are zero demonstrations, but just young people having fun and sitting there. There are even lots of CRS who are present when there is nothing at all.

A curfew to avoid the scenes of looting last weekend. Noah, aged 24, understands this well: “The whole world is aware of what happened in France, so we shook things up a bit everywhere to show our dissatisfaction. We are playing the game. We have been asked to calm down, so we are doing what we are asked, and we will see if in return we will respond to our demands." But if the demonstrators are not heard, Noah promises, the protests will start again with a vengeance.