French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has announced the mobilization of 13,000 police and gendarmes ahead of Tuesday’s general strike day, during which massive protests against the pension reform are expected.
The »unprecedented device», in Darmanin’s words, includes 5,500 active police officers in Paris, although there will also be important contingents in Lyon, Rennes, Nantes, Dijon and Bordeaux, where riots are expected.
Darmanin has appealed to recent violent incidents. »Since March 16, 891 policemen and gendarmes have been injured, 47 in particular last weekend. In Sainte-Soline, we have counted 200 individuals known to the intelligence services for their radicalization», he indicated in reference to the riots in the village of Sainte-Soline, where thousands of ecologists protested against the agricultural dams.
According to the minister, some of »these people present in Sainte-Soline this weekend could join the demonstrations in Paris and carry out actions in the cities of Lyon, Rennes, Nantes, Dijon and Bordeaux» with the aim of »setting fire to France in blood and fire».
»Tomorrow, 90 units of mobile forces will be deployed, a level of mobilization never reached before», he stressed before appealing »to the indispensable proportionality of the use of force».
»I ask the police and the gendarmes not to respond to any provocation. These provocations are only the act of those who wish them ill», he warned. Moreover, he made a solemn appeal »to all the elected representatives of the Republic to condemn with the utmost firmness and without the least ambiguity the violence committed against the police».
As for Sainte-Soline, Darmanin has denied that there were delays or impediments in attending to the wounded demonstrators, as denounced by the organizers. »Whenever we were called, we sent doctors, in particular from the national gendarmerie, to provide first aid. The gendarmes and the doctor accompanying them were harassed several times and in a very aggressive manner to prevent them from reaching the site,» he has assured.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
