France investigates 10 suspicions of police abuse in student protests

O minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, is ready to answer the questions of the “competent committees of the National Assembly or Senate” who wish to hear about the instructions given, the doctrine of maintaining public order or the conditions of intervention of the security forces, according to sources close to the leader, quoted by the French news agency AFP.

In total, 6,059 people have been arrested since September 28 – when the movement escalated and violent clashes were recorded – and 715 police or gendarmes (military with civil police functions) were injured.

The student movement, which has been going on for about two weeks, has generated strong confrontations and its repression has been the subject of criticism for the violence used, especially in the case of underage demonstrators.

The intervention of the “police police” was decided following reports of serious injuries caused by dispersal and baton weapons.

In some cases, incidents were reported in which young people focused severely on the eyes and face and a teenager suffered mutilation of one hand due to the explosion of a scatter grenade.

Human rights organisations, such as the Human Rights League and Amnesty International, reported “serious violations of the rule of law”, referring to around 6,000 arrests, most of which were made by underage young people during the control of school demonstrations and blockades.

The student protests in France began on 21 September against teaching conditions and the lack of investment in public education.

The movement, which began on the outskirts of Paris, spread rapidly throughout the country, with young people contesting the lack of teachers at the beginning of the school year, the overcrowding of classes and the degradation of school infrastructure.

Hundreds of educational establishments throughout the country have been completely or partially closed due to student barricades.