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Paris, Montpellier, Nantes, Lyon, Toulouse… A few hundred Yellow Vests have defied the ban on demonstrations

2020-05-16T17:20:08.564Z


In this first weekend, some Yellow Vests wanted to revive their tradition of Saturdays of events. Despite the i


The ban on gatherings of more than ten people also applies to demonstrations. This did not prevent hundreds of people from putting on their Yellow Vests in several cities in France, as they did many Saturdays during, until the deconfinement.

From Montpellier to Nantes, a few hundred "yellow vests" thus defied the ban on demonstrations on this first Saturday post-containment, the police often carrying out verbalizations, AFP journalists noted. "There is sanction for all gatherings of more than ten people", had reminded in the morning the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner, traveling to Veules-les-Roses (Seine-Maritime).

Truncheon blows and arrests in Montpellier

In Toulouse and Nantes, which had experienced strong protests in 2018 and 2019, the "yellow vests" held small scattered groups in the city center in the early afternoon, in the presence of large police forces, who proceeded to verbalizations. In Bordeaux, a former bastion of the movement, the prefecture counted around fifty demonstrators. Same observation in Paris where the demonstrators took possession of the Place de la République under high police surveillance.

The merchants of Toulouse had called for a counter-demonstration this Saturday. The two gatherings were not authorized by the prefecture #GiletsJaunes pic.twitter.com/YTSEPwnpOA

- La Dépêche 31 (@ ladepeche31) May 16, 2020

In the capital of Occitania, traders and "yellow vests" faced each other. Supported by the mayor LR Jean-Luc Moudenc, traders heard saying "that it is irresponsible on the part of the Yellow Vests to demonstrate with the risks of contamination and irresponsible to block the shops, which are under respiratory assistance", according to Philippe Léon , from an association of merchants in the city center.

The mobilization was a little more important in Montpellier where around 350 "yellow vests" gathered on the Place de la Comédie, quickly surrounded by the police. In a crowd, members of the police force struck clubs with batons. A woman was injured in the head, requiring the intervention of firefighters, found an AFP journalist. At the start of the evening, seven people had been arrested: five for "obstructing the movement of a tram", one for "participation in a crowd despite the summons" and the last for "violence against anyone responsible for public authority" , according to a police source.

"It's the second wave of yellow vests that is preparing! "

"I am revolted. The repression is still there, but so are we. We will have to count with us over the next few weeks, ”protested Jean-Jacques, 52, a“ yellow vest ”from the start. There were 300 in Lyon on the banks of the Rhône. While a majority of them wore masks, social distancing was difficult for many to respect. The demonstrators, including many young people dressed in black, were unable to go up the platforms in the direction of Place Bellecour, barred by a cordon of police and gendarmes.

In Saint-Nazaire, some 130 people, "yellow vests" and "figures of the Nantes ultra-left" gathered in the early afternoon and almost half were fined for non-compliance with the ban to demonstrate, according to the police. "It's the second wave of yellow vests that is preparing! Joked Fanny, 30, near a roundabout south of Grenoble, surrounded by a dozen protesters.

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For Christophe Castaner, "in this period when we must accompany the economic recovery and a form of freedom for our fellow citizens, those who want to hinder trade, must understand that this is not necessarily the time to express themselves thus".

Source: leparis

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