The situation seems to be easing on Reunion Island where the movement of yellow vests has led in its wake of clashes between young people and law enforcement. After three nights of curfew, the prefect announced that he would renew the measure until Sunday. The island still faces great difficulties of supply, the only commercial port of the island being blocked by demonstrators.
The island of Reunion, shaken by a surge of violence on the sidelines of the movement of yellow vests, has experienced from Thursday to Friday a second night in a quieter, attributed by the prefect partial curfew, he renewed for 48 hours until Sunday morning.
Only a few garbage and pallet fires were reported during the night. Some 21 dams were identified late Friday morning by the Regional Directorate of Roads (DRR), and two strategic points remain under control Yellow Vests: the East Port, the only commercial port of Reunion, and the four-way leading to Roland-Garros International Airport (Sainte-Marie, North).
"Consolidate the return to calm"
The prefect Amaury de Saint-Quentin has decided to extend until Sunday morning the decree "restricting the movement of people and vehicles between 9 pm and 6 am" in 14 of the 24 municipalities of Reunion.
"My first priority is to ensure the security of the population," he told reporters, explaining that the curfew had allowed law enforcement to "tighten up their actions and become more efficient. During both nights. According to the prefect, this decree "contributes to appeasement" , and its renewal will "consolidate this return to progressive calm. "
The Port still blocked
The Attorney General of the Court of Appeal of Saint-Denis, Denis Chausserie-Laprée, announced his side that 29 people had been brought to court in the past three days for acts of urban violence. Judged in immediate court, they were sentenced to up to two years in prison, but the heaviest sentences on Thursday did not exceed five months in prison.
At the Port East, the protesters block Friday the roundabout that gives access to the docks. They only allow containers containing medicines and medical equipment. In grocery stores and supermarkets on the island, the rays are empty. Customers, who drop in, queue up at length to stock up.
School establishments still closed
The confederation of SMEs (CPME) is affected by Friday looting and fires of companies. Its president François Asselin claims, in a letter to the Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, that the order is reestablished. But he also notes that "the exasperation goes up in the ranks of the entrepreneurs and craftsmen of Reunion, who deplore that the government of the Republic does not dialogue with the ocean territories" .
Schools are still closed and most sports and cultural activities have been canceled. The airport has to close again at 4 pm (1 pm in Paris) and flights have been delayed or delayed. The planes are almost all obliged to stop in Mauritius to get supplies of kerosene.
Police reinforcements continue to arrive on the island.