French President Emmanuel Macron has announced sweeping restrictions on demonstrations after a weekend of rioting and looting in several cities, saying the country’s priority now is to restore calm.
Under the new measures, protests requested by individuals or groups without legitimate standing will be prohibited. Applications from recognised bodies such as trade unions will still be considered under the law, though organisers may be required to follow alternative routes away from sensitive areas. Macron said the rules were needed to protect city centres, businesses and public buildings, and advised that, in general, no demonstrations should take place in the coming days.
The president blamed much of the recent unrest on people who came out specifically to loot. He went further, however, accusing far-left groups of carrying out what he described as political and seditious acts aimed at bringing down the republic. He said he would chair a defence council meeting of senior ministers on Friday to decide on concrete steps ahead of fresh nationwide protests called for Saturday and beyond.
A police ban on a student march in Paris on Thursday was overturned by a court, but planned marches in Grenoble, Rouen, Le Havre and Toulon were stopped.
In Lyon, France’s third-largest city, authorities have already banned all protests in the city centre on Saturday. Last weekend, between 200 and 300 shops there were ransacked and the tourist office was set on fire. Marseille, Nice and Toulon have announced similar bans.
In Paris, a Saturday march beginning at the Place de la Bastille in the east of the capital has been approved, but it will not be allowed to enter the city centre. A separate march planned by students and members of the gilets jaunes, or yellow vests, movement, whose fuel-price protests shook France in 2018 and 2019, has been refused permission. The main student union, UNEF, has also called for rallies on Saturday. According to French media, businesses in central Paris and other cities have begun boarding up windows and hiring private security guards.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said that of the 2,500 people arrested since last weekend, 174 had been remanded in custody and more than 900 were facing prosecution. Two people have been detained after the town hall in Limoges was set ablaze.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu met leaders of the main political parties on Thursday to seek their views and cooperation, and was scheduled to meet several big-city mayors later in the day.
The security crackdown has also included partial night-time curfews in parts of several cities, including Paris, along with bans on gatherings near the Élysée Palace, parliament and the capital’s main railway stations.
The unrest began last month at a high school in Créteil, south-east of Paris, where students protested over staff shortages and crumbling buildings. The movement quickly spread across the country through strikes, blockades and school walkouts, and has since grown into wider protests over the soaring cost of living, just six months before the presidential election that will choose Macron’s successor.
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