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France riots: quieter night reported across the
country despite close to 500 arrests
The interior ministry says the level of violence
appears to have declined compared to previous nights, as 45,000 police are
deployed overnight
Guardian
staff and agencies
Sun 2 Jul
2023 04.15 BST
French
authorities made hundreds of arrests on the fifth night of unrest sparked by
the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old, but reports from across the country
indicated that rioting was much less intense.
A total of
486 people had been arrested across the country by 3am on Sunday, interior
minister Gérald Darmanin said, adding that the level of violence appeared to
have declined since rioting first broke out over the death of Nahel M in the
Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday.
“A calmer
night thanks to the resolute action of the security forces,” Darmanin tweeted
early on Sunday.
Darmanin
told reporters earlier that 45,000 members of the security forces would be
deployed overnight Saturday into Sunday – the same number as the night before.
Extra forces and equipment were sent to Lyon, Grenoble and Marseille, which saw
intense rioting on Friday night.
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In Paris
and its nearby regions, where about 7,000 officers were out in force, 126
people had been arrested by 1.30am Sunday.
Police
increased security at the city’s landmark Champs Elysees avenue after a call on
social media to gather there. The street, usually packed with tourists, was
lined with security forces carrying out spot checks. Shop facades were boarded
up to prevent potential damage and pillaging.
The biggest
flashpoint was in Marseille where police fired teargas and fought street
battles with youths around the city centre late into the night. However, by
midnight, authorities in Marseille and Lyon were reporting fewer incidents than
the previous night, with 56 and 21 people arrested in the two cities,
respectively.
Local
authorities all over the country announced bans on demonstrations, ordered
public transport to stop running in the evening and some imposed overnight
curfews.
On
Saturday, president Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to Germany that was
due to begin on Sunday to handle the worst crisis for his leadership since the
“Yellow Vest” protests paralysed much of France in late 2018. Macron recently
faced months of anger and sometimes violent demonstrations across the country
after pushing through a pension overhaul.
Nahel, who
had Algerian and Moroccan parents, was shot by a police officer during a
traffic stop. On Saturday, friends and family attended a private funeral for
the teenager.
A large
crowd gathered outside the local mosque and followed the coffin to the cemetery,
many chanting “Justice for Nahel”. Lawyers for relatives had asked journalists
to stay away from the ceremony, saying it was “a day for Nahel’s family” to
mourn “with discretion”.
The
shooting of the teenager, caught on video, has reignited longstanding
complaints of police violence and racism. Macron has denied there is systemic
racism in French law enforcement agencies.
A police
officer clears the way at the Champs Elysees
A police
officer clears the way at the Champs Elysees. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
A
38-year-old policeman has been charged with voluntary homicide over Nahel’s
death and has been remanded in custody.
Over five
days, rioters have torched 2,000 vehicles and more than 200 police officers
have been injured, Darmanin said on Saturday, adding that the average age of
those arrested was 17.
More than
700 shops, supermarkets, restaurants and bank branches had been “ransacked,
looted and sometimes even burnt to the ground since Tuesday”, finance minister
Bruno Le Maire said.
The unrest
has raised concerns abroad, with France hosting the Rugby World Cup in the
autumn and the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024. Britain and other
European countries updated their travel advice to warn tourists to stay away
from areas affected by the rioting.
Reuters and
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
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