The French prime minister has called for tough new measures to punish those hijacking legitimate protests by looting, burning and vandalising, reports The Guardian.
Speaking after the weekend’s violence at gilets jaunes (yellow vests) demonstrations, Édouard Philippe said tough new public order measures were necessary to protect those wishing to exercise their fundamental right to protest from the “scandalous” behaviour of thugs and vandals – who, he added, should be prosecuted and made to pay for the damage they cause.
Philippe said the government was considering setting up a register of rioters, similar to that used to deter football hooligans, to force them to report to police and prevent them from joining demonstrations.
Philippe declared the government’s tough new stance in a television interview on the prime-time evening news on TF1.
He said that since the gilets jaunes protests began in November, there had been 5,600 people taken into custody and 1,000 convictions.
He added that the government had made concessions to address some of the movement’s demands and was seeking a “national debate” – to take place later this month – but that there would be no concessions to those who threaten French institutions, including the president, and who seek to “invalidate the results of elections”.