March 26 () –
The General Inspectorate of the French National Police (IGPN) has announced the opening of 17 investigations since January 19 for possible cases of excessive police violence. On that date the protests against the pension reform began.
The head of the IGPN, Agnès Thibault Lecuivre, explained in statements to BFMTV television that they have detected “a change in the nature of particularly radicalized individuals who were not in the first days of national action.”
Police violence is at the center of the political debate in France as a result of serious riots between demonstrators and agents in the context of protests against the judicial reform promoted by the Government and that raises the retirement age.
In addition, extremely violent clashes broke out on Saturday between environmental activists and police in Sainte-Soline, a small town in central-western France, during a protest against agricultural dams.
The organizing organization, Land Uprisings, has assured that there are 200 injured demonstrators, 40 of them seriously, as a result of the violent clashes with the Police. Authorities have confirmed 29 injured officers.
One of the injured is hospitalized in critical condition and is torn between life and death, the Poitiers Prosecutor’s Office reported this Sunday.
