France mobilises 70,000 police and gendarmes for Saturday protests

French authorities are under pressure to restore order after scenes of chaos during mass protests against the rising cost of living last weekend.

“We have noted numerous calls coming from the ultra-left and the radical far-left movements,” Nunez told a news conference on Friday.

Damage to shops and public buildings is estimated at several hundred million euros.

Some 2,700 people have been taken into police custody in connection with the riots and looting, while 217 have been jailed in fast-track court hearings so far, the Justice Ministry said on Thursday.

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Security deployment

The 70,000 security personnel will include police officers and gendarmes from local forces across the country, as well as elite police units, Nunez said.

Around 20 gendarmerie armoured vehicles and 15 water cannon trucks will also be deployed across France.

The Yellow Vest movement, an anti-establishment force that emerged in 2018, plans to march through central Paris on Saturday.

Only demonstrations organised by trade unions are authorised, while all protests in Marseille and Lyon have been banned.

Night-time curfews are in place in parts of several big cities, including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nice and Montpellier.

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Heightened tensions

The security announcement came as France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal investigation into the shooting of several people in a Paris suburb on Friday morning.

One person died and four were seriously injured, including a 12-year-old.

The suspect has been arrested, but it is not clear whether he was politically motivated.

France experienced one of its worst episodes of urban violence in recent years last Saturday, six months before French voters go to the polls to choose a successor to President Emmanuel Macron.

“The security operation next Saturday will be massive,” Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised on Tuesday during a tense parliamentary session in which MPs demanded explanations from the government.

Police had “lost control” during last Saturday's protests, called by the Yellow Vests movement over the cost of living crisis, Nunez admitted.

Macron has blamed “seditious” ultra-left groups for the unrest – allegations the prominent hard-left France Unbowed party denies – and said on Thursday that “illegitimate” protests would be banned in the coming days.

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Businesses to close

France's main student union, UNEF, has also called for rallies on Saturday.

Macron is due to meet student representatives on Friday to discuss their plans, but UNEF said its rallies would go ahead. The demonstrations grew out of high school protests last month over teacher shortages and poor facilities.

“Macron is trampling upon the freedom to protest in our country, and is spitting on the values of the republic he claims to defend,” the union said in an emailed statement.

Despite the restrictions and arrests, many businesses, institutions and events were planning to close this weekend.

The Marseille Chamber of Commerce urged businesses to shut on Saturday, while organisers of Art Basel Paris said the art fair would be closed all weekend. The Louvre and the Fondation Louis Vuitton will be closed on Saturday.

Orleans, in central France, was bracing for unrest, as the far-right National Rally was scheduled to hold a party meeting, with thousands expected to demonstrate in opposition.

(with newswires)