Paris, Oct 19 (IANS) French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said Monday that partial curfews would be introduced in some areas starting Monday evening following incidents of looting during weekend protests.
At a news conference, Lecornu said he had asked French prefects to implement “a number of partial curfews as early as this evening,” describing the disorder as “very localised in urban centres.”
Lecornu said a state of emergency would be declared “if necessary,” but added that curfews “appear to be more appropriate.”
“There is no question of allowing the looting to become established,” he said, adding that the Interior Ministry would release a detailed map of the areas concerned during Monday afternoon, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Partial unemployment measures would be activated from Tuesday for shopkeepers affected by damage and looting, Lecornu said. The government would also provide public funding to support affected businesses, he said, while stressing that such assistance “makes no sense if we are not capable of restoring order as quickly as possible.”
French Trade Minister Serge Papin estimated that at least 3,000 businesses had been affected during weekend protests.
Around 550,000 people took part in protests across France on Saturday. A total of 2,397 people were arrested during the protests, which were marred by violence, according to figures released by the French Interior Ministry on Sunday. A total of 997 police officers and gendarmes were injured, seven of them seriously.
The police prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhone in southern France on Monday banned all gatherings and demonstrations throughout the city of Marseille from noon to 8 pm local time (1800 GMT), according to a post on X by the police prefecture.
French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed legal action against those responsible for violence during protests across the country on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of people flooded streets across major European cities over the weekend, venting mounting anger over surging living costs, housing shortages, and strained public services.
–IANS
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