This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
NEARLY 40,000 people joined “gilets jaunes” protests across France in the 26th successive weekend of demonstrations, according to spokespeople for the movement.
The figure was supplied in response to the Interior Ministry saying turnout was down to 18,600, with only 1,200 demonstrating in Paris, which would be the lowest figure so far.
Police charged protesters in Nantes, where officials had claimed in advance that they feared violence by so-called “black blocs,” and officers in Lyon attacked demonstrators with tear gas.
The French government has accused the protesters of widespread violence, but video footage released by bystanders often exposes police brutality instead. A recent video showing a police officer hurling a paving slab at May Day marchers has prompted an investigation.
Demonstrators admitted that the crowds had thinned out since the movement began in November, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets, but they argued that this was because of the expense of travelling to major cities for protests and fears of police violence, rather than because people were losing interest.
