In France, 161,000 demonstrators march against the health pass
Nearly 161,000 demonstrators took to the streets against the extension of the health pass, this Saturday, July 24, 2021. REUTERS - BENOIT TESSIER
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According to the Interior Ministry, 161,000 people demonstrated in France this Saturday against the health pass.
They were more than 110,000 last Saturday.
In Paris, the demonstration was punctuated by a few incidents.
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They were around 5,000 in Montpellier, 6,000 in Nice and 4,000 in Strasbourg.
All over France, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets this Saturday, shouting for “
freedom, freedom
” or calling Emmanuel Macron to “
resign
”, to protest against the health pass and the vaccination obligation.
The Interior Ministry recorded 168 actions in the provinces, which mobilized nearly 150,000 people.
Yellow vests, but also caregivers or students made up a good part of the demonstrators, in processions where we saw many tricolor flags, and which paraded most of the time in peace.
Many of them claimed to be vaccinated, but opposed to compulsory vaccination.
Senate Amendments
In Paris, on the other hand, the number of demonstrators was down slightly according to Place Beauveau, which estimates them at 11,000, against 18,000 last Saturday.
The demonstrators divided into three distinct groups, one of which went to the Trocadéro, where several thousand people responded to Florian Philippot's call.
The former vice-president of the National Rally and president of his new movement Les Patriotes, attacked the “apartheid” that the executive wanted to set up according to him.
At the end of the demonstration, shortly after 6 p.m., clashes took place between nearly 200 demonstrators and the police near the Champs-Élysées.
These demonstrations took place while the text,
adopted by the National Assembly
in first reading Friday, July 23, was being read in the Senate.
The upper house, dominated by the right, made several changes to the project this Saturday, excluding minors from the obligation to present a health pass, and limiting it to indoor spaces only.
The terraces will therefore be exempt.
Another modification: an implementation of the health pass on September 15, instead of August 30 as it was initially planned.
But these changes could again be canceled, removed or reduced in a joint committee or when the text changes during the parliamentary shuttle.
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Anti-health pass demonstrations in France: "It's a movement that calls for freedom"
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Anti-health pass demonstrations in France: "It's a movement that calls for freedom"