France sends elite police units onto streets, Paris imposes curfew

The French authorities are putting all available police forces on the streets of the country’s cities, including elite units, after the clashes over the weekend. The BRI, the National Police’s elite tactical unit that specialises in fighting organised crime (comparable to the Czech URNA), has been mobilised.

Members of the GIGN, the gendarmerie’s elite counter-terrorism unit, and of the RAI, the National Police’s counter-terrorism unit, will also be on the streets. Helicopters and water cannon will be used in the operation.

In Paris, a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. is in force in selected areas for the second day running, and demonstrations are banned in some places. Transporting fuel in canisters is also prohibited. Similar measures apply in other cities across France.

The government is under fire for failing to prevent the weekend clashes. The right-wing opposition and the far right are calling for tougher police action, and on Tuesday MPs from that side of the political spectrum urged the parliament to ban all demonstrations at weekends.

The left, by contrast, says the government must listen to the demands of the student protest movement: in recent weeks students have been protesting against the poor state of the school system.

Source: novinky.cz