Teenage demonstrators have blockaded more than a dozen high schools in and around Paris, mounting makeshift barricades and setting fire to cars, scooters and trash cans, in protest at the alleged rape of a young black man by police.
Authorities said nine students were arrested in the suburb of Clichy after about 100 youths set two cars and a motorbike alight, threw stones and shattered a shop window.
Eight more people were arrested after a larger crowd of students, some hooded and carrying flares, gathered at Place de la Nation in the east of the capital.
Photo: AFP
Some of the protesters carried homemade banners, including one reading: “Revenge for Theo” — a reference to a man identified as Theo L, who was allegedly raped with a police truncheon this month.
Another student was arrested in the western suburb of Nanterre after allegedly setting fire to mattresses.
Hundreds more demonstrated in several cities outside Paris, including 300 in Montpellier.
A Paris education authority spokesman said extra security measures, including at least one school closure, had been taken after 16 of the area’s 103 high schools were blocked on Thursday morning and 12 others disrupted.
Police and riot squads were on hand, but relatively few violent incidents were reported, a police spokesman said.
The protest was called by a group called Mouvement Inter Luttes Independant, which posted photographs of the demonstrations on Facebook.
It demanded “justice for all victims of police violence” and denounced “racist spot checks” by police on students.
French Minister of Education, Higher Education and Research Najat Vallaud-Belkacem appealed for calm.
“Young people’s emotion over the Theo affair is understandable, but we must let justice take its course,” she said.
Violence is “unacceptable,” she told reporters.
One police officer has been charged with raping Theo L in Aulnay-sous-Bois on Feb. 2 and three others have been charged with assault.
Four officers arrived at a housing estate in the northern Paris suburb, and began stopping youths and asking to see identity papers. Theo L, 22, was allegedly forced to the ground, beaten and subsequently raped with a police baton, suffering such serious injuries that he needed emergency surgery.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
RSS