Thousands of "yellow vest" protesters marched Saturday for the 21st consecutive week to denounce French government policies, as the authorities prepare to unveil the results of a nationwide consultative exercise designed to address public grievances.
From Rouen in the north and Lyon in the southeast - as well as the capital Paris - protesters took to the streets carrying banners denouncing French President Emmanuel Macron. In the west, French and German activists joined forces on the border. Some masked protestors clashed with police in Rouen, but there was nothing like the scale of violence seen in previous weeks' protests, such as the March 16 riots in Paris that saw luxury stores on the Champs-Elysees ransacked.
Interior ministry figures - consistently dismissed as underestimates by the protesters - put the turnout across France at 6,300 at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) of which 3,100 were in Paris.
That was significantly down on the 282,000 who turned out for the first yellow vest rally in November last year - but many of the remaining activists have made it clear they will keep marching until they get satisfaction from the government. "What will get me to stop, is the resignation of (Interior Minister Christophe) Castaner, because of the police violence," said Catherine, 59, a demonstrator in Paris.
Comments
Comments are closed.