France lycée protests: more than 6,600 arrested, hundreds injured
Interior minister Laurent Nuñez said 761 police and 215 students have been hurt since high-school protests over education funding began last month.
More than 6,600 people have been arrested since protests by French secondary-school pupils began last month, interior minister Laurent Nuñez told parliament on Wednesday. Nuñez said 6,629 arrests had been recorded by Tuesday evening, with 761 police and gendarmes and 215 pupils injured, along with 89 education staff. Nuñez's figures, given during a hearing before the National Assembly, mark one of the heaviest tolls of any civil unrest in France in recent years.
Nuñez had announced earlier on Wednesday that he was suspending the use of stun grenades for the duration of the protest movement, telling radio station RTL the measure would last as long as the unrest continued, after a 15-year-old protester had a hand torn off by one. He said police watchdog the IGPN had opened 18 investigations so far, as many protesters accuse officers of using excessive force.
In La Ciotat, near Marseille, a 16-year-old will stand trial in February accused of throwing petrol over a teacher and beating him as he tried to put out a fire outside a school during a protest last Friday, prosecutors said. The teacher was attacked while trying to extinguish a blaze set outside the Lycée Méditerranée, and prosecutors have asked that the teenager be placed under judicial supervision, barring him from the school and from contacting the teacher. Two other pupils detained over the same incident will also be tried, on charges including damage, theft of a riot shield and forming a group to prepare violence.
The pupils are protesting against overcrowded classrooms, unfilled teaching posts and poor building conditions, and are calling for blockades and marches to continue on Thursday despite government calls to return to lessons for talks. The Uni student union, which opposes the blockades, has said violence achieves nothing and called for them to be lifted.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was due to address the situation in schools on Wednesday evening, along with fuel prices, the farming crisis and the state of public finances, his office said.
What we know
- More than 6,600 people have been arrested since the protests began, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
- 761 police and gendarmes and 215 pupils have been injured; 89 education staff were also hurt.
- The use of stun grenades has been suspended after a 15-year-old protester's hand was torn off.
- Police watchdog IGPN has opened 18 investigations into officers' conduct.
- A 16-year-old will stand trial in February over an attack on a teacher at a protest in La Ciotat.
Not yet confirmed
- The exact circumstances that triggered the La Ciotat attack have not been fully detailed by prosecutors.
Why it matters for Europe
The scale of the unrest, with hundreds of police officers and students hurt and thousands of arrests, marks one of the most serious waves of protest violence to hit France's state school system in years. Suspending stun grenades is a rare reversal for the interior ministry, and the 18 internal police inquiries opened so far point to wider scrutiny of how officers have handled the protests.
Sources
Reported by 3 reports from 3 independent outlets in 2 countries.
- Franceinfo: Un adolescent sera jugé en février après l'agression d'un enseignant aspergé d'essence, en marge d'une manifestation lycéenne à La Ciotat
- Franceinfo: Un adolescent jugé en février après l'agression d'un enseignant aspergé d'essence à La Ciotat, en marge d'une manifestation lycéenne
- La Libre: Manifestations des lycéens en France : plus de 6.600 arrestations, 760 policiers et 215 élèves blessés
Source balance
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Questions and answers
- How many people have been arrested in France's school protests?
- More than 6,600 people had been arrested by Tuesday evening, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
- Why are pupils protesting?
- They are protesting against overcrowded classrooms, unfilled teaching posts and poor conditions in school buildings.
- What happened in La Ciotat?
- A 16-year-old will stand trial in February accused of attacking a teacher with petrol and blows during a protest outside a school there.
This article was written with AI assistance from 3 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.