France Fast-Tracks Trials for 2,500 Riot Detainees as Paris Court Doubles Rooms
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 21
France Fast-Tracks Trials for 2,500 Riot Detainees as Paris Court Doubles Rooms
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 21
Summary
More than 2,500 people detained after France’s biggest riots in years are moving through expedited hearings, with Paris’s main courthouse running a rapid-fire docket of suspects accused of attacking police, building barricades and looting.
About 550 of those detainees were in Paris, overwhelming the Tribunal de Paris enough that it doubled the courtrooms normally used for fast-track cases involving lower-level crimes caught in the act.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has told prosecutors to seek harsh sentences, casting the first convictions this week as the start of a broader push to reassert state control.
The crackdown follows unrest after Saturday protests that drew more than 500,000 people nationwide but also led to attacks on government buildings and the looting of more than 3,000 businesses.