Between 50 and 60 marches are expected in France on Saturday, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who plans to mobilise approximately 70,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country. In Paris, the march will commence at 1pm from Place de la République heading towards Place de la Nation via Bastille.
Extreme groups taking advantage of protests
A Spanish neo-Nazi activist suspected of planning an attack in Paris was arrested last Friday.
Spanish daily El País reported that Spanish authorities discovered dozens of weapons and Nazi-related items in the possession of Isabel Peralta, a spokesperson for a far-right fringe group. According to the Spanish daily, she had planned to travel to Paris to “open fire” amid ongoing social unrest and student protests.
She was arrested on Friday, November 6, along with thirteen other members of the organisation Núcleo Nacional.
New French protests focus on children, police and ‘licence to kill’
“Society’s in bad shape,” said Claire Bourdille, from a collective battling violence against children and teenagers. “We can’t focus on one cause more than another,” she told AFP.
Activists have in recent months demanded better protection for children against sexual abuse.
Others will be protesting against a new bill in parliament to grant police who use their weapons a presumption of legitimate self-defence.
Activists argue the bill, approved by the lower house and soon to go to the Senate, amounts to a “licence to kill”. They say it would make holding security forces accountable even harder in a country where most cases of alleged police brutality rarely reach a criminal court.
Its backers, including the far-right National Rally party of presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen, say it is necessary to avoid police being automatically suspected of using disproportionate force.
Helicopters and drones have started circling
Helicopters and drones monitoring protests are both a sight and sound that have become almost commonplace since October 17.
From the FRANCE 24 office in Issy-les-Moulineaux, the sound of the helicopters that will be monitoring this afternoon’s demonstration can already be heard… ⬇️
France mobilises in fifth wave of national protests
Between 50 and 60 marches are expected throughout the country on Saturday, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who plans to mobilise as many police officers as during the three previous rounds of weekend demonstrations since October 24, calling on around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes.
A police source told AFP that between 30,000 and 60,000 people were expected in Paris, including possibly “300 to 600 high-risk individuals.”
The Paris demonstration is due to set off from Place de la République at 1.00 pm toward Place de la Nation, passing through Bastille. This is intended to allow families with children to leave the march before the dispersal and to avoid the clashes with police that often occur during dispersals.
The “Yellow Vests” coordination group, which has helped organise Saturday demonstrations across France since October 17 to protest the “high cost of living,” listed 338 demonstrations nationwide on its website Friday afternoon for Saturday’s day of action.
