Europe 1 with AFP 15:41 p.m., March 21, 2023

The prefect of police, Laurent Nunez, said on Tuesday on BFMTV that there had been no unjustified arrests in Paris as part of the mobilizations against the use of 49.3. The prefect also stressed that "a number of people have not been deferred".

Police prefect Laurent Nuñez said Tuesday that there were "no unjustified arrests" in Paris as part of the mobilization against the use of 49.3 to adopt the disputed pension reform.

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"Arbitrary" police custody?

"There are no unjustified arrests, I cannot let that be said," Laurent Nuñez said on BFMTV, while unions of lawyers, magistrates and left-wing politicians denounced "arbitrary" police custody. "We arrest for offenses that, in our eyes, are constituted" and, once the placement in custody decided by a judicial police officer (OPJ), "we have 48 hours to try to materialize the offense, it's short," insisted the prefect of police.

"When we reach the end of the 48 hours, sometimes, we have not characterized the offense, we are in a state of law, it is fortunate and at that time, there is no prosecution," continued Laurent Nuñez. The prefect also stressed that "a number of people were not referred (presented before a judge) but there were alternatives to prosecution, so the offense was constituted".

>> READ ALSO – "Paris, rise up!": despite the adoption of the pension reform, the street continues to shout

292 people taken into custody

During the first spontaneous gathering on Thursday, Place de la Concorde, punctuated by incidents, only nine people were presented to the prosecutor's office, including for reminders of the law, out of the 292 placed in custody. As a result, 283 cases were closed for insufficiently serious infringements or no infringement.

The following day, 60 people were taken into custody: 34 proceedings were closed, 21 led to alternative measures (reminder of the law, probationary warning) and five to a trial. In total, 287 people, including 234 in Paris, were arrested Monday night in France during a fifth consecutive evening of spontaneous demonstrations against the use of 49.3.

Initiation of an administrative inquiry

During this evening, a video widely shared on social networks shows a police officer punching a protester in the face. The prefect of police, who acknowledged that the gesture appeared on the images "inappropriate", said he had requested the opening of an administrative investigation to establish the course of the facts.