For the third weekend in a row, anti-health pass demonstrations took place across France.
This Saturday, they gathered more than 200,000 people, including nearly 15,000 in Paris alone.
If they took place in relative calm, these gatherings were still peppered with tensions with the police, which gave rise to 72 arrests throughout France, according to a new balance sheet unveiled this Sunday by the Ministry of the Interior.
Thank you to the police and gendarmes mobilized today throughout France to supervise the demonstrations.
Full support for the 3 injured police officers and all the police officers and gendarmes who were taken to task
Assessment at this stage: 19 arrests including 10 in Paris.
- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) July 31, 2021
There were 26 arrests in Paris, where three members of the security forces were injured, according to the ministry.
Among those arrested in the capital, 25, including two minors, were placed in police custody, suspected in particular of violence against the police, of "participating in a group with a view to committing violence or degradation" or again for contempt, rebellion or possession of explosive devices.
Greater mobilization
The demonstrations on Saturday were also marked by the assault on two AFP journalists in the capital.
The previous week, journalists from BFMTV had already been insulted and threatened in Paris and two journalists from France 2 had been chased away by several individuals in Marseille.
Another notorious fact: a pharmacist, installed in a tent dedicated to screening for Covid-19, was attacked and insulted by demonstrators in Montpellier.
For this third consecutive Saturday of demonstrations against the health pass at the heart of the summer holidays, the mobilization has increased.
Last week, they had been 161,000 pounding the pavement, including 11,000 in Paris, and 110,000 a week earlier.