Paris has extended a partial lockdown, restricting movement in parts of the city until Monday, while Marseille and Lyon have imposed a total ban on protests this weekend. The Louvre, Orsay and Picasso museums in the French capital will also close on Saturday, as more demonstrations are expected. France is still recovering from the major unrest of last weekend, when mass protests against the high cost of living and conditions in schools were overshadowed by riots and looting that caused the destruction of businesses and historic buildings.
President Emmanuel Macron said that in other parts of the country, where protests have not been completely banned, only authorised union demonstrations will be permitted on Saturday. Interior Minister Jean-Didier Berger said police deployments would be increased by 20% compared with last weekend, after the government was accused of being caught off guard by the scale of the unrest. The French Justice Minister announced on Thursday that 217 people had been jailed for last weekend’s unrest following swift trials, and that this number is expected to rise. Gérald Darmanin added that 2,700 people had been arrested across France and more than 1,000 had appeared before a court. Half of those detained had no previous criminal record, according to Le Figaro.
Paris police said the lockdown in Place de la République, where protesters gathered last weekend, and the Les Halles shopping area will be extended until Monday. Movement will be banned in both areas from 23:00 local time (21:00 GMT) until 06:00 the following morning, the capital’s prefecture said, adding that the order had been issued by Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. Public transport in Marseille will be suspended on Saturday in an effort to prevent a repeat of the unrest in the city, which saw some of the most severe violence last weekend and damage to more than 500 businesses.
The prefecture of the Rhône region, which includes Marseille, said a lockdown for minors would be expanded to the entire population during the night of Saturday, 24 October, from 23:00 to 05:00 (21:00 – 03:00 GMT). Similar notices have been issued in Nice, Toulon, central Rouen and Grenoble. Macron met intelligence services and ministers on Thursday to prepare for the next national day of protests on Saturday. He stressed that the general recommendation is that there should be no demonstrations, and that those organised by unions will have alternative routes, while non-union protests will be banned wherever possible. He attacked what he called “political and even subversive acts organised by far-left groups aiming to overthrow the Republic”.
The “yellow vests” (gilets jaunes) movement was behind many of last weekend’s protests, and Paris authorities have said some of their proposed marches have been banned. Partial lockdowns restricting the movement of young people and gatherings have been imposed this week in cities including Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice, Lyon, Lille and others. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised a “massive” deployment of police officers this week to deal with any unrest this weekend, although some officers have told French media that they are not trained to manage large crowds. Around 550,000 people took part in the 17 October demonstrations to protest against rising fuel prices and the cost of living, which escalated after weeks of student protests.
Taken from BBC News