PARIS — France’s government said Wednesday it is suspending the use of stun grenades to police student protests, after a 15-year-old boy’s hand was blown off during a clash with riot police, Reuters reported.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said there was a “strong possibility” that the firing of a stun grenade caused the teenager to lose his hand in the northern city of Lens on Monday. “I am suspending their use for the high school students’ movement until light has been shed on what happened in this case,” Nunez said, adding that 18 investigations had been referred to the police inspectorate.
The move came as the protest wave showed no sign of easing. More than 500 schools were closed on Wednesday, a day after demonstrations swept the country. The Interior Ministry estimated that 266,000 people took part in Tuesday’s marches, including 56,000 in Paris, where police fired tear gas after clashes broke out at the end of a largely peaceful rally, the Associated Press reported. Organizers put the turnout at about 450,000.
Nearly 500 people were detained on Tuesday, the ministry said. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff had been injured. Education Minister Édouard Geffray told lawmakers on Wednesday that 24 schools had been set ablaze or vandalized so badly they would be shut for several weeks, affecting at least 30,000 students, the New York Post reported.
The protests began in mid-September at schools in disadvantaged Paris suburbs and have grown into the biggest student movement in decades, driven by demands to fix dilapidated buildings, teacher shortages, overloaded schedules and a lack of education funding. Lecornu has acknowledged the students’ “legitimate” demands while calling the unrest the most violent student demonstrations in decades.
Rights groups, unions, students and some opposition politicians have accused the police of using disproportionate force. Nunez said the police response had been proportionate in “almost all cases” and that the protests had at times turned into riots. Unions have called for another day of street marches on Thursday.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press, New York Post.
