From Montpellier to Nantes, a few hundred "yellow vests" have defied the ban on demonstrations on this first post-containment Saturday, the police often carrying out verbalizations.
"There is sanction for all gatherings of more than ten people", had reminded in the morning the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner, traveling to Veules-les-Roses (Seine-Maritime). For him "in this period when we must accompany the economic recovery and a form of freedom for our fellow citizens, those who want to hinder trade, must understand that this is not necessarily the time to express themselves thus".
A woman injured in the head
In Toulouse and Nantes, which had experienced strong demonstrations in 2018 and 2019, the "yellow vests" held small scattered groupings in the city center in the early afternoon, in the presence of large police forces, who proceeded to verbalizations. Same situation in Bordeaux, a former bastion of the movement, where some of the 150 "yellow vests" who came to demonstrate wandered in small groups in the historic center before their dispersal without incident, according to the prefecture of Gironde.
In the capital of Occitania, traders and "yellow vests" faced each other. Supported by the mayor LR Jean-Luc Moudenc, traders heard saying "that it is irresponsible on the part of" yellow vests "to demonstrate with the risks of contamination and irresponsible to block the shops, which are under respiratory assistance", according to Philippe Léon, from an association of merchants in the city center.
The mobilization was a little more important in Montpellier where around 350 "yellow vests" gathered on the Place de la Comédie, quickly surrounded by the police. In a crowd, members of the police force struck clubs with batons. A woman was injured in the head, requiring the intervention of firefighters.
"It is the second wave of" yellow vests "which is preparing! "
At the start of the evening, seven people had been arrested: five for "obstructing the movement of a tram", one for "participation in a crowd despite the summons" and the last for "violence against anyone responsible for public authority" , according to a police source. "I am revolted. The repression is still there, but so are we. We will have to count with us over the next few weeks, ”protested Jean-Jacques, 52, a“ yellow vest ”from the start.
There were 300 in Lyon on the banks of the Rhône. While a majority of them wore masks, social distancing was difficult for many to respect. The demonstrators, including many young people dressed in black, were unable to go up the platforms in the direction of Place Bellecour, barred by a cordon of police and gendarmes.
In Saint-Nazaire, some 130 people, "yellow vests" and "figures of the Nantes ultra-left" gathered in the early afternoon and almost half were fined for non-compliance with the ban on demonstrate, police said. "It is the second wave of" yellow vests "which is preparing! Joked Fanny, 30, near a roundabout south of Grenoble, surrounded by a dozen protesters.
By the Web
Coronavirus: Online app, virtual avatar ... How to demonstrate on May 1 despite confinement?
- Christophe Castaner
- Society
- epidemic
- Deconfinement
- Covid 19
- Yellow vests