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FRANCIA Clémentine Autain criticizes French government over police response to student protests
The Ecologist and Social lawmaker said on France Info that the ruling camp is trampling the rule of law in its handling of high school demonstrations. She also rejected leaving abuse investigations in the hands of the police’s own internal watchdog.
French lawmaker Clémentine Autain, a member of the Ecologist and Social group in the National Assembly and a co-founder of L’Après, strongly criticized the government’s response to high school student protests, saying on France Info that Macron’s camp is trampling the rule of law.
Autain argued that the police response to student demonstrators was not proportionate. She said some minors suffered severe injuries and accused officers of assaulting protesters. She also placed responsibility on the political leadership and questioned France’s broader crowd-control doctrine.
According to France Info, since the start of the student movement, 24 investigations have been opened by the General Inspectorate of the National Police into alleged acts by police officers, citing the Interior Ministry. The outlet also reported that more than 200 students were injured, along with more than 800 police officers and gendarmes.
Autain said she does not trust the IGPN and argued that investigations into police conduct should be handled by bodies independent from the police. She also condemned the scale of detentions linked to the protests. France Info reported that since mid-September, more than 6,800 people have been taken into custody, 86% of them minors, and that 21 people were jailed, according to a judicial tally released by the Justice Ministry.
In that context, the lawmaker also voiced support for the students and called for broader coordination among social movements in the coming days of mobilization.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
