France's mayors call for mass mobilisation against riots as arrests fall
France's mayors have called on the public and elected officials to gather at town halls nationwide on Monday in a show of mass opposition to violent protests that have rocked the country since last Tuesday following the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old at the hands of the police. There were fewer arrests on Sunday night, suggesting the violence may be waning.
Issued on:
The extraordinary call for a "mobilisation of citizens for a return to republican order" came after the home of a mayor in the Paris suburb of L'Hay-les-Roses was rammed with a flaming car on Saturday night in an apparent bid to burn it down.
The attack, injuring the mayor's wife, has prompted widespread outrage.
In a press release, an association of the country's mayors noted that "communes everywhere in France are the scene of serious unrest, which targets republican symbols with extreme violence".
Following a crisis meeting on Sunday with government ministers, President Emmanuel Macron's office said the president would be meeing the heads of the two chambers of parliament on Monday, and the mayors of more than 220 towns hit by the unrest on Tuesday.
Drop in arrests
Since rioting began last Tuesday, more than 3,000 people have been detained following a mass security deployment, with 45,000 police mobilised nationwide for the last three nights.
The Interior Ministry said police made 157 arrests during Sunday night, far fewer than the 719 arrests the day before.
In an exceptional measure, courthouses in some towns were opened on Sunday to allow the immediate hearings of 160 people, mainly youths, accused of looting.
Hundreds of police and firefighters have been injured in the violence, although authorities have not issued figures on the number of protestors hurt.
'Do not riot'
Earlier, on Sunday, the grandmother of Nahel, the young driver shot dead at a traffic stop last Tuesday, had called for calm, saying that rioters were only using his death as a "pretext".
"Stop and do not riot," she told BFM television.
Politicians, meanwhile, condemned the attack on the residence of Vincent Jeanbrun, the right-wing mayor of L'Hay-les-Roses outside Paris, in which assailants rammed a burning car into his home with the aim of setting it on fire, prosecutors said.
His wife was "badly injured", sustaining a broken leg, according to prosecutors, who have since opened an attempted murder investigation.
"Last night the horror and disgrace reached a new level," the mayor said in a statement.
During a visit to L'Hay-les-Roses, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told reporters that, overall, the "situation was much calmer" than in previous days.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez cautioned on BFM television that despite the calmer evening "no one is declaring victory".
Fresh crisis
The protests present a fresh crisis for Macron, who had been hoping to press on with the pledges of his second term after seeing off months of angry demonstrations over plans to raise the retirement age.
The latest unrest has raised concerns abroad, with France hosting the Rugby World Cup in the autumn and the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024.
Tour de France organisers said they were paying close attention to the situation as the cycling race prepares to cross the border into France Monday after two days in the Spanish Basque country.
Macron postponed a state visit to Germany that had been scheduled to begin on Sunday in an indication of the gravity of the situation at home.
"We are of course looking at [the riots] with concern, and I very much hope, and I am certainly convinced, that the French president will find ways to ensure that this situation improves quickly," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told broadcaster ARD.
A 38-year-old policeman has been charged with voluntary homicide over Nahel's death and has been remanded in custody.
Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning
Subscribe