PARIS: 109 arrested for violent May Day protests

Authorities in Paris, France have arrested no less than 109 protesters who took part in the annual May Day rally which turned violent.

According to French police, the arrested protesters are now cooling their heels in detention after the annual May Day rally held by labour unions for better workers’ rights led to chaos in the streets of Paris.

The police gave the number of those arrested correcting an earlier figure of 209 quoted by by Interior Minister Gerard Collomb.

However, Collomb said there will be more police presence on the streets of Paris for the next demonstrations slated for next year.

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“For the next demonstrations, there will be even more security forces, this time with the intention of totally separating protesters from those who have come to smash things up,” he told France 2 television.

Reacting to the violent protests, French President Emmanuel Macron, on a visit to Australia, said on Twitter he “firmly” condemned “the violence of the rogue demonstrations”.

“We will do everything so that the perpetrators are identified and made responsible for their actions.”

French police said that an estimated 1,200 masked and hooded youths dressed in black burned a McDonald’s restaurant, smashed shop windows and torched several vehicles during the rally.

 

 

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