Thousands demonstrate in Paris to protest the Corona measures. The police use tear gas.
Paris – In France, on Saturday (February 12th, 2022), there was a clash between Corona demonstrators and the police. Despite a ban, participants gathered on the Champs Élysées and temporarily paralyzed traffic around the Arc de Triomphe.
The demonstrations in France were apparently inspired by the Corona protests in Canada, in which hundreds of trucks have been blocking the capital Ottawa and important transport routes to the USA since the end of January. In France, too, the thousands of participants in the demos drove towards Paris in cars, mobile homes and vans. According to police estimates, 3,000 vehicles with a total of 5,000 demonstrators reached the outer ring road of Paris on Saturday morning.
Corona demonstration in Paris: Police arrest almost 100 people
Despite a police ban, some of the protesters managed to drive more than a hundred vehicles onto the Champs Élysées in Paris. The police then arrested 97 people and issued 513 fine warnings. Officials later used tear gas to break up the corona demonstration. French Prime Minister Jean Castex said the rights to demonstrate and freedom of expression are constitutionally guaranteed, “to block others or prevent them from coming and going are not”.
France: Opponents of corona measures protest in Paris
Some of the opponents of the Corona measures in France see themselves in the tradition of the yellow vest movement, which caused unrest in the country in 2018 and 2019. Recently, anti-vaccination opponents in France have become increasingly violent. The French vaccination card, which only allows access to certain public places to people who are fully vaccinated against the corona virus, is causing anger.
In addition to the illegal demonstration on the main street of Paris, 32,100 people across the country also took part in authorized rallies on Saturday. This was announced by the French Ministry of the Interior. Hundreds of vehicles attempting to reach the capital were previously stopped by police.
Some of the protesters are now apparently planning to continue to Brussels, where a “European meeting” is to take place on Monday (February 14, 2022). This was also banned by the Belgian authorities. (vbu/AFP)
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