By Paul de Neuville, correspondent in Paris, for Eurasia Business News, July 1, 2023

During the riots in France on the night of Friday to Saturday, more than 1300 people were arrested by the police, dozens of police officers were injured. The situation is very tense and even anarchic in many suburbs of large cities, following the death of a young man on June 30, during a traffic stop by the police in Nanterre.

According to police, 994 people were arrested overnight and 79 officers were injured in riots and looting of shops in dozens of cities in France. The authorities recorded nearly 2560 fires on public roads, 1350 cars were burned, 234 buildings burned or damaged as a result of fires.

The rioters clashed with the police in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nanterre, Saint-Denis. Shops and banks were set on fire. In addition, 12 buses were set on fire and destroyed at a depot in Aubervilliers, north of Paris. Schools and libraries are even targeted by the rioters.

By the evening of 30 June, the situation had worsened in Marseille and Lyon, where an arms depot and a police station were looted by dozens of rioters. The next morning, residents of Marseille, where about 100 people were arrested, began assessing the damage. In particular, in the city center, rioters robbed and destroyed several shops, including luxury brands. In Lyon, the RAID and BRI teams, these elite policemen, had to intervene to restore order.

According to AFP, 406 people were arrested in Paris and the suburbs last night. The protests in France continue for the fourth day. They began after a police officer shot a 17-year-old man of Algerian origin named Nael M. during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The young man did not survive the shooting. The police officer is currently in pre-trial detention and charged with intentional homicide. According to the police, the young man did not obey the request of the highway patrol to stop. Police unions are protesting strongly against the statements of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron: “Nothing, nothing justifies the death of a young person”, evoking “the emotion of the entire nation”. The unions are demanding respect for the “presumption of innocence” of the police officer under investigation.

On June 30, French President Emmanuel Macron convened the government’s second anti-crisis meeting in two days. The French leader even left the European Union summit in Brussels early to return to France and canceled his press conference.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, at the suggestion of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, has announced the deployment of armored vehicles of the gendarmerie. Four Centaur combat vehicles and 14 VBRG wheeled armoured vehicles are expected to be deployed. Minister Darmanin also called for the suspension of public transport in the evening, from 21 p.m., throughout France and localized curfews.

Friday afternoon, Gérald Darmanin had announced, at the end of a second interministerial crisis committee in two days, the “exceptional” mobilization of 45,000 police and gendarmes and elite units like the GIGN.

France has been experiencing riots and protests in recent days. The unrest began after the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old man by police in a Paris suburb on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The violent protests have been taking place across the country, with dozens of public buildings, schools, librabies and shops sacked and burnt. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has held several emergency meetings to address the situation. The Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, has deployed 45,000 police officers to quell the widespread unrest. Hundreds of cars have been torched, streets barricaded, and projectiles hurled at police and security forces. A Nike shoe store was broken into in central Paris, and several people were arrested after. According to reports, nearly 1,500 people have been arrested, and 100 police officers have been injured during the protests of last night.

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