Tens of thousands protest across France over inflation and police powers

PARIS: Tens of thousands of protesters paraded in the streets of France on Saturday, some clambering up statues with French flags as they vented on issues ranging from the rising cost of living to a proposal to give police greater legal protection.

The European Union's second-largest economy has been gripped by high-school blockades and mass demonstrations for more than a month, with the far right leading in the polls to win presidential elections next year to replace Emmanuel Macron.

Around 106,000 people took to the streets nationwide, including 24,000 in Paris, the interior ministry said, in the lowest turnout in recent weeks.

Student unions put the number of demonstrators at 200,000, including almost 100,000 in the capital.

Arrest figures were also noticeably lower than at previous mass protests, with the ministry saying 219 people had been detained across the nation. Paris prosecutors said 45 were arrested in the capital.

"No justice, no peace," a protester shouted into a megaphone in Paris as people including students, unions and Yellow Vest activists demonstrated for the fifth Saturday in a row.

Others called for the president to resign, or cried "Everybody hates the police", as a group carried a giant puppet whose hat read "Lord Macron."

Some of the largely peaceful rallies in recent weeks have seen fringe violence, as well as accusations of police brutality, including against young teenagers.

- 'GIVING US HOPE' -

Adrien, a 20-year-old cello player in a volunteer orchestra at the Paris rally, said the focus of the day was a new bill in parliament to give police who use their weapons further protection.

"We're scared when we come to a protest, and this will only make us even more afraid if their impunity is strengthened," he said, after tear gas fell on protesting musicians last month.

Backers of the new police bill – including the far-right party of leading presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen – say a new law presuming police acted in self-defence is necessary to avoid officers being automatically suspected of using disproportionate force.

Activists argue it would amount to a "licence to kill", as it would hamper the opening of investigations and make holding security forces accountable even harder in a country where alleged police brutality cases rarely reach a criminal court.

Others nationwide demanded better learning conditions, more children's rights or simply sang for a better France.

In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, 72-year-old Josette belted out the protest song "I have two passions: brass bands and revolution."

"My children didn't want me to come," she told AFP. "But I'm so grateful to the youth for starting this movement."

"They're giving us hope at a time when it feels like we're heading straight for disaster, with a planet that keeps getting hotter and far-right movements that are increasingly unapologetic."

- 'REPRESSION UNACCEPTABLE' -

Macron's popularity is the lowest it has ever been since he first became president in 2017, according to recent polls, and the government has little leeway to respond to protester demands as it struggles to reduce its debt.

Polls project hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon as runner-up in next year's elections, with the centre-right struggling to present a single strong contender.

In the southern city of Toulouse, Kenza, a 28-year-old asylum law specialist, denounced the government's response to the social unrest.

"The repression of protesters is unacceptable – even more so when they are children," she said.

Lawyers last week said police violence at recent protests had led to "mutilations" including hand, foot and eye injuries.

Saturday's rallies were largely peaceful but police fired teargas in Paris, Bordeaux and the western city of Nantes, including after some individuals shot fireworks.

Police had to intervene in the city of Lyon to protect a team of television reporters after protesters attacked them, local authorities said.

Unions have called for a new day of strikes on Tuesday, after rejecting a government promise to increase the minimum wage by 0.6 per cent as "crumbs."

The largest protests in recent weeks occurred during a union-led strike on Thursday last week, when more than half a million people took to the streets nationwide, according to official figures.--AFP