The serious protests in France threaten to escalate.
Due to alleged police violence, a parallel to the yellow vest movement is suggested.
News ticker.
Protests
in
France
: Serious allegations against police during strike
Vortex
over
pension reform
: President Emmanuel Macron under pressure
Strikes
in the
neighboring country
: is there a threat of the next yellow vest protest in France?
Update from March 27, 12:40 p.m .:
After the massive protests against the pension reform, which raises the official retirement age from 62 to 64, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne will meet President Emmanuel Macron on Monday (March 27).
Macron had asked Borne to contact the members of the National Assembly.
The French government had resorted to a much-criticized constitutional article to pass the reform without a final vote by parliament.
First report from March 27, 2023, 11 a.m.:
Paris – Violent protests have been raging in France for weeks.
The pension reform, which provides for a gradual increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64, had caused displeasure among many people.
In the past few days, serious allegations of police violence and arbitrary arrests have been the subject of protests.
The allegations are directed at the Brav-M brigade, which was already active during the "yellow vest" movement.
There are indications that French authorities are bracing for the worst.
+
Protests in France intensify.
Is there a next "yellow vest" movement?
© Laurent Cipriani/dpa
Strike in France escalates: Serious allegations against police unit
Among other things, a sound recording had given cause for concern about the extent of the mass protests in France.
In the nearly 20-minute clip, police officers can be heard humiliating and threatening a young man who claims to be from Chad.
If the police officers see him on the street again, the demonstrator will “not get into a police car to go to the police station” but “drive to the hospital.”
The French daily Le Monde
and the online video broadcaster
Loopsider
report that two police officers from the Brav-M motorcycle brigade were involved
.
According to France 24,
the Brav-M is
a police unit that is supposed to break up demonstration trains through its rapid deployment.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez immediately condemned the incident, describing the behavior as "unacceptable" and unethical, telling French TV channel
France 5
: "Like everyone else, I am very shocked." Police have been forwarded for internal investigation.
Dans un enregistrement sonore d'une vingtaine de minutes que Loopsider s'est procuré, plusieurs policiers des Brav-M menacent et intimate sept jeunes gens interpellés lundi soir après a manifestation contre la réforme des retraites.
Voici une partie de ce document édifiant.
pic.twitter.com/dvWDZbGQSb
— Loopsider (@Loopsidernews) March 24, 2023
Protests against pension reform put President Macron under pressure
According to france24,
units of the Brav-M have
already been deployed in the French "yellow vest" movement.
During the movement, citizens tried to put pressure on President Emmanuel Macron's government for months with regular, sometimes violent demonstrations.
The "yellow vest" movement, led mainly by lower-middle-class people from rural areas, has been protesting increased fuel prices since 2018.
The reform has been causing massive protests and sometimes serious riots in France for weeks.
Strikes in France: is the next yellow vest protest imminent?
The American daily
Politico,
on the other hand, does not assume that the current protests will tie in with the yellow vest movement.
In contrast to the current protests in France, violent actions and vandalism were the main features of the "yellow vests".
In the current demonstrations, violence usually erupts after union-organized, traditional protests or in subsequent smaller protests.
One thing they have in common is the broad public support.
More than 60 percent of the French support
stronger protests to persuade the government to withdraw, according to an
Ifop poll published on Thursday (March 23).
(bohy)
List of rubrics: © Laurent Cipriani/dpa
