French Police Face 36 Misconduct Probes Over Injuries to Minors in Protests
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Oct 21
French Police Face 36 Misconduct Probes Over Injuries to Minors in Protests
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Oct 21
Summary
Three teenagers cited by lawyers and protesters suffered severe injuries during France’s student protests: a 14-year-old’s jaw was shattered, a 16-year-old lost sight in one eye, and a 17-year-old needed stitches after a baton strike.
Videos reviewed by Al Jazeera and witness accounts allege officers used batons, tear-gas grenades and rubber-bullet launchers at close range, while critics say tactics such as kettling and early volleys of tear gas escalated panic rather than contained crowds.
France’s authorities have defended police action as necessary and proportionate, even as the police watchdog IGPN opened 36 misconduct inquiries and one family filed an attempted-murder complaint.
Nearly 6,900 people have been taken into custody since the protests began, 86% of them minors, yet the crackdown has not quelled unrest: more than 500,000 people marched over the weekend, including about 100,000 in Paris.
The allegations revive long-running criticism of French crowd-control methods after the yellow vest protests, Nahel Merzouk’s 2023 killing and repeated warnings from rights groups about excessive force and restrictions on protest.
As French youth lose limbs to police grenades, could this bloody classroom revolt ultimately dictate the upcoming 2027 presidential election?
With historic buildings burning and teenagers maimed, will the government's desperate classroom concessions be enough to stop France's escalating nationwide uprising?
Beyond the tear gas and shattered jaws, is the French state's brutal crackdown on students masking a complete collapse of its public institutions?