Street furniture upside down, vandalized parking meters, smashed glass advertising panels, gratings torn from trees... No one has forgotten these images which in the fall of 2018 went around the world, showing the streets of Paris ransacked by the demonstrations of the "Yellow Vests".
Every Saturday from mid-November 2018 and during the winter of 2018-2019, the demonstrators of this protest movement from all regions of France, which experienced a certain revival during the second half of 2019, ritually met in the capital to express their dissatisfaction.
As thugs regularly mingled with the processions, the damage was considerable for the traders whose windows were broken and also for the municipality.
Two decisions, two indemnities to be paid
Two and a half years after his first claim for compensation was rejected by the Paris police chief, Didier Lallement, the Hôtel de Ville, which had brought the case before the administrative court – citing in particular “staff costs within the direction of cleanliness and the environment engaged for the cleaning and the collection of waste” or the “removal of burnt out cars” - has just won its case.
In a decision rendered on Wednesday May 4, the administrative judge condemns the State to pay the City of Paris more than 1.4 million euros because of the damage suffered during the demonstrations of the "Yellow Vests".
In fact, the Administrative Court issued two decisions to the same effect in this case.
The first condemns the State to compensate the City in the amount of 963,058.82 euros for the period from November 28, 2018 to March 31, 2019. The second sets the compensation to be paid to the municipality at 451,527.44 euros for the period between April 1, 2019 and December 1, 2019. That is a total of 1,414,586.26 euros.
In a tweet, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo (PS), "welcomed" this court decision as finance assistant Paul Simondon.