779 arrested in France after protests against high cost of living on 31 October
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Dakaractu
French police arrested 779 people after protests against the high cost of living were held in Paris and other cities on 31 October. An investigation into attempted murder of persons exercising public authority concerns a Molotov cocktail attack that slightly injured a gendarme, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office, as cited by AFP.
Law enforcement arrested 779 people during protests against the high cost of living held in France on Saturday 31 October, Dakaractu reports. The Paris prosecutor’s office has also opened an investigation into attempted murder of persons exercising public authority after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at gendarmes.
The incident occurred in the late afternoon in eastern Paris. The explosion of a homemade device at the feet of a mobile gendarme left him slightly injured, according to footage reported by Dakaractu. The prosecutor’s office said explosive projectiles had targeted around 15 gendarmes and police officers.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the Molotov cocktail attack as an attempted murder of the gendarme. The prosecutor’s office said complaints were to be filed and that an assessment of the injured was under way.
The arrests took place amid protests against the high cost of living, which brought hundreds of thousands of people out across France on 31 October. Clashes had also broken out after a demonstration in Paris that day.
