France: Fourth weekend of Yellow Vests protests: more than 1700 arrested and over 1200 held in custody
10 December 2018
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France
Fourth weekend of Yellow Vests protests: more than 1700 arrested and over 1200 held in custody
10.12.18
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More than 1700 people were arrested across France at the weekend following the fourth round of 'Yellow Vests' protests against the government of Emmanuel Macron. Some 400 people were also arrested in Belgium during a "copycat" demonstration, according to RFI.
According to the radio station:
"More than 1,700 people were arrested across France during the latest "yellow vest" protests as demonstrators clashing with riot police caused more damage in Paris than a week ago, officials said on Sunday.
...A total 1,220 of the 1,723 detained were ordered held in custody, the ministry said.
Police in Paris said they made 1,082 arrests on Saturday, up sharply from 412 in the previous round.
The interior ministry said some 136,000 people took part in Saturday's protests across France, around the same number as ...on December 1."
In Belgium:
"Police fired tear gas and water cannon and arrested around 400 people Saturday in the Belgian capital Brussels during a copycat "yellow vest" demonstration rocking neighbouring France.
...About a thousand people took part in the rally and the police had to resort to teargas and water cannon to break up the demo, she [Brussels police spokeswoman Ilse Van De Keere] said."
See: 1700 arrested in France, Paris takes stock of destruction and 400 people arrested in copycat Yellow Vest protest in Brussels (RFI, links)
The Local has highlighted the motivations of some of the protesters, who had "demands ranging from better support for pensioners to the downfall of capitalism."
See: In their own words: France's yellow vests explain their grievances and goals (The Local, link)
Macron is due to make a speech today (10 December 2018) to try to address the situation.
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