AGI – More unrest and hundreds of arrests in France after the fifth night of protests over the death of young Nahel, the boy killed by a police officer. But according to the French authorities, there were no protests they were much less intense compared to the previous days. Total night Across the country, 719 people were arrestedThis was announced by Home Secretary Gerald Darmanin, adding that the level of violence appears to have decreased since the outbreak of the first riots. According to the new, still preliminary report from the French Ministry of the Interior, they were injured during the night 45 police and gendarmes, 577 vehicles and 74 buildings were set on firewhile 871 fires were recorded on public roads.
© Ludovic Marin/AFP
Last night in Paris
“It was a quieter night thanks to the determined action of the security forces,” tweeted Darmanin, who had ordered the deployment of 45,000 agents, the same number as the night before. In Paris and neighboring regions, where around 7,000 police officers were deployed, 126 people were arrested late in the evening and in the early hours of the night.
The police have tightened security measures Champs Elysees after the announcement circulated on social media that the famous Parisian avenue would be the meeting point of the protests. Shop fronts were boarded up to prevent possible damage and looting.
The riots are getting worse Marseilles, where protesters and police clashed late into the night on Canabiere, the city’s main thoroughfare. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. However, around midnight, authorities in Marseille and Lyon reported fewer incidents than the night before, recording 56 and 21 arrests in the two cities respectively.
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Tension in Marseilles
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing a new crisis after street protests in connection with the controversial pension reform, yesterday announced to his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier that his state visit to Germany planned for Tuesday evening had been postponed. Meanwhile, the issue of the state of emergency, called for by far-right forces and not ruled out by the same Elisabeth Borne government until two days ago, remains on hold. France will host the Rugby World Cup in autumn and the Olympic Games in Paris in summer 2024. Several European countries, including Italy, have updated their travel guidelines, advising citizens to be careful and prudent when traveling to France.
It is still too early to assess the damage
It is still too early to assess the extent of the damage caused by the unrest in France in recent days, but the government is aware that it is “high”, said French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who also recalled that “There is no nation without order.”
Meeting in Paris with retailers and hoteliers to take stock of the situation and economic losses, Le Maire said around 10 shopping malls, 200 supermarkets, 250 tobacconists, 250 bank branches and scores of shops ranging from clothing to sporting goods, Perfumery, fast food. The minister called on insurers to act swiftly in compensating their customers and announced that the government was considering support measures for the companies affected.
In the afternoon, President Emmanuel Macron, who had postponed his visit to Germany “due to the situation in the country”, met with the mayors.
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Clashes in Marseilles
The last farewell
It took place in one atmosphere of sad serenitybut also out of anger, the mourning ceremony to welcome Nahel M., whose death set fire to France.
Several hundred people gathered to pay homage to the young man, but also gathered around his mother and grandmother. Crowds of young people, many in distinctive ‘djellabas’, gathered outside the funeral home set up in the French city for a ceremony that the family wanted to keep as intimate as possible, away from the cameras.
The hearse with the white coffin left the undertaker’s at around 12 p.m., then the funeral ceremony took place at the Ibn Badis Mosque in Nanterre (whose access entrance was filtered by a group of local young people who knew Nahel), and finally the burial at the Muslim area of the Mont Valérien Cemetery.
Who was Nahel?
With a passion for rap and motorcycling, described as a “quiet boy” if at times exhibiting “borderline” behavior, with a life similar to many other young people in the city, Nahel had been raised in Nanterre by his mother alone, who lived in a condominium in the Pablo-Picasso district, at the foot of La Défense.
After school he had done odd jobs, worked as a messenger and started attending an ‘integration course’ run by the Ovale Citoyen association, which accompanies young people in sport, and developed a partnership with Nanterre rugby club.