The Paris police headquarters feared riot scenes and had closed the perimeter for prevention. Since Friday afternoon, the surroundings of the AccorHotel Arena, the Bercy performance hall (12th arrondissement) have been the scene of fires and violence in the context of the arrival of the Congolese singer Fally Ipupa.
#GareDeLyon, 02/28 / 8:17 p.m.
Presumably linked to the riots against the coming of the Congolese rapper #FallyIpupa in concert at #Bercy tonight pic.twitter.com/pRpEwhZCvp
A great black smoke lined the sky in the east of Paris around 6 p.m., especially above the Gare de Lyon where the clashes were concentrated. Scooters fires were notably spotted under a bridge, near the Gare de Lyon. The station was evacuated as a precaution, with a strong burning smell.
Congolese opponents against the Fally Ipupa concert
Assumed support of the regime in place, the 42-year-old artist is to give a concert this evening in the great hall of the multi-sport palace in Bercy. But political opponents gathered as planned to protest the spectacle.
They prevent #pompiers from extinguishing #fire #GareDeLyon #casseur @Qofficiel pic.twitter.com/BIF4toqWFK
- joel belafa (@jbelafa) February 28, 2020Friday midday, the police had already made two arrests and 11 verbalizations in the Bercy sector, as part of the bans, said the prefecture of police on Twitter.
Already a concert canceled in 2017 in Paris
In 2017, a Fally Ipupa concert in another Paris hall had already been canceled by prefectural order for risks of "serious disturbances to public order".
Activists from the Congolese diaspora regularly demonstrate against artists who perform in France or in Belgium and whom they accuse of being close to President Kabila and his successor Félix Tshisekedi.