1,314 protesters arrested in France over unrest

Police arrested 1,314 people in weekend protests across France, the interior ministry said Sunday, adding that 53 officers were hurt in clashes. The arrests occurred as violence broke out on the margins of mass demonstrations in major cities on Saturday over the high cost of living. It was the second consecutive weekend of unrest in France, which is heading to presidential elections in April and May to choose a successor to Emmanuel Macron, who is reaching his two-term limit.

The interior ministry said police responded to 75 fires during Saturday’s protests, adding that 24 shops were looted. “Several investigations have been opened,” it said in a statement, without giving details. It said that the rest of Saturday night, after the clashes had died down, was “calm”. The ministry statement on Sunday did not say how many protesters were hurt.

Late Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez spoke of two serious injuries among protesters: one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand. – Protesters hurt – The Toulouse prefecture, which reports to the interior ministry, told AFP that a 20-year-old man was seriously hurt with a wound to his hand. A street medic who tended demonstrators told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the man had “several fingers” blown off his right hand.

The prefecture covering Clermont-Ferrand said a man there also had a hand hurt, but did not suffer the loss of any fingers. A French regional daily, La Nouvelle Republique, reported that a man in Poitiers was hurt in his left eye, showing a photo of a man holding his face. The newspaper’s photographer told AFP he was a 19-year-old who was wounded during a charge by riot police firing stun grenades and tear gas.

There have been several instances in recent weeks, during student protests in France, of people being maimed by police stun grenades or tear gas grenades. It was not known if the injuries reported from Saturday were from those police weapons. Officials said investigations had been opened in at least some of the cases. mk/rmb/sbk