The Paris prosecutor's office told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "51 police custody were underway on Saturday morning" following protests and fires that occurred on Friday at Gare de Lyon in Paris, on the sidelines of the concert of Congolese star Fally Ipupa.
The Congolese rumba singer, accused of being close to the government in power in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), had not performed in France for years, for fear of overflows. Before the start of his concert at the AccorHotels Arena, multiple incidents broke out early Friday evening around the station and the neighborhood near Bercy. Several scooters and garbage cans were set on fire, producing thick swirls of smoke in the area. The underground part of the station was evacuated as a precaution and the traffic of metros and RER was disrupted. Around 6:30 p.m., the fires were brought under control by the firefighters and about thirty vehicles, mainly two-wheelers, fully charred, had noted.
The police headquarters had placed the concert under close surveillance, banning the multiple demonstrations planned by the opponents. But for several days, the battle of opinions was raging on Twitter around the arrival of the singer. The first arrests of demonstrators defying the ban began at midday. At 11:00 p.m., 71 people had been arrested, according to the prefecture, which denounced the "scandalous behavior" of certain demonstrators who hampered the action of the firefighters. The "arsonist" was among those arrested, said a police source.
Paris
Gare de Lyon: Fires on the sidelines of the concert of the Congolese singer Fally Ipupa
Culture
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- Paris
- Society
- Demonstration
- Incident
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Concert
- Fire