Paris on edge, goes into lockdown

A mass student rally is adding to a sense of general revolt as the ‘yellow vest’ protests rumble on.

PARIS: Images of dozens of highschool pupils kneeling with their hands behind their heads in mass round-ups sparked an outcry as France braces for more violence at “yellow vest” protests this weekend.

Left- wing politicians have expressed outrage at the videos, which have gone viral on social media, showing the teenagers kneeling as riot police barked orders at them.

“Whatever wrong was done, nothing justifies this filmed humiliation of minors,” Socialist leader Olivier Faure tweeted.

“There is no need to pour even more oil on the flames.”

The students were detained on Thursday in the Paris suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie, in unrest that has spread to dozens of schools during three weeks of anti-government demonstrations.

A total of 146 people were arrested outside the town’s Saint-Exupery high school after protesters clashed with police and burned two cars.

Laurent Saint-Martin, a senior member of the ruling Republic On The Move (LREM) party, said around 40 of the students were masked and carrying equipment to be used in vandalism and arson.

But he too described the videos as “shocking”, telling Franceinfo radio: “It’s right to be angry, looking at these images.”

Protests at some 280 schools against stricter university entrance requirements have added to a sense of general revolt in France as the “yellow vest” protests rumble on.

Dozens of people wearing face masks threw Molotov cocktails, torched rubbish bins and clashed with police outside schools in several cities on Thursday.

The “yellow vest” protests, named for the safety jackets worn by demonstrators, came to a head in Paris last weekend with the worst rioting the capital has seen in decades.

The protests began on Nov 17 in opposition to rising fuel taxes, but have since swollen into a broad movement against Emmanuel Macron and the biggest challenge of his presidency.

The protesters are furious at rising costs of living blamed on high taxes, and accuse former investment banker Macron of favouring the rich with his policies. — AFP