Paris riot police on Sunday fired teargas in clashes with far-left activists in Paris during a climate change demonstration ahead of key UN talks.
Riot police took action after a group of protesters pelted officers with bottles and candles from one of the tributes to the victims of the Nov. 13 attacks on the French capital. About 100 people were arrested.
Organizers said about 10,000 activists formed a human chain in a peaceful protest near the site of the deadliest attack, pleading for leaders to curb global warming. Police said half that number took part.
Photo: AP
“Hear our voices! We are here!” cried the demonstrators ahead of the 195-nation UN summit being held just outside Paris, which aims to strike the first truly global accord to limit greenhouse emissions and avert a global climate disaster.
In emotional scenes and guarded by heavily armed police, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet visited the Bataclan memorial, met with a relative of one of the three Chilean victims and laid a large floral wreath.
However, about two hours after the human chain dispersed, anti-capitalist militants who had gathered in the nearby Place de la Republique square that has become a rallying point for mourners after the attacks began to clash with police, reporters said.
A group of militants wearing black hoods and scarves over their faces chanted “state of emergency, police state, you will not take away our right to protest,” referring to the measures restricting demonstrations introduced after the attacks.
As objects were thrown, police in riot gear formed lines to push back the militants and the air was filled with teargas.
French President Francois Hollande described the violence as “scandalous” and blamed it on “disruptive elements.”
Genevieve Azam, spokeswoman for Attac, one of the groups that organized the demonstrations, described the human chain as cathartic.
“There was a powerful current that passed between people’s hands,” Azam told reporters. “It was a pleasure to be able to lift the lid that has weighed on French people since the attacks.”
Aside from defying the attackers, protesters were determined to pressure world leaders who were arriving for the climate summit, which runs until Friday next week.
“I hope the leaders will finally find an agreement to stop climate change,” said Janis Krisch, a 20-year-old student from Stuttgart in Germany. “I really do think that the global community realizes that it must do something now.”
A French protester, retired university lecturer Jean-Pierre Raffin, joined the human chain wearing a beret and a Legion d’Honneur medal, France’s highest honor.
“I hope this time the conference will lead to something solid,” he said. “Far too often, they have just met to organize another meeting.”
Christine De Clercq, 67, said she had come from Ghent in Belgium to add her support.
“I would like schools to have an hour a week of lessons around the world so that the young understand the danger,” she said.
Instead of marching, activists also left thousands of pairs of shoes on the ground in Place de la Republique.
A pair of sneakers was left by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, while Pope Francis also sent a pair of shoes.
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