Paris gilets jaunes protests continue

SECURITY forces in riot gear were deployed across central Paris as demonstrations by the gilets jaunes – “yellow vest” – protesters continued yesterday.

French authorities positioned police around central railway stations and along the famous Champs-Elysees boulevard, where shops were closed and their windows boarded up in anticipation.

Action by police included tear gas and the use of a water canon, as more than 100 people were detained across France.

Calls for calm have been repeated by President Emmanuel Macron after protests in the city turned violent last weekend, with groups of demonstrators smashing and looting stores, and setting up burning barricades in the streets.

The gilets jaunes movement, which takes its name from the fluorescent safety vests French motorists must all have in their vehicles, emerged in mid-November as a protest against fuel tax increases.

Around 8,000 police officers and 14 armoured vehicles are said to have been deployed to the French capital on Saturday where 3,000 protesters turned out.

In total, it is thought more than 66,000 people turned out across France for a fifth consecutive weekend of protests, half of last weekend’s total.

More than 20 police vans and a water cannon truck were parked nearby the central Saint Lazare station, with bag checks put in place.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered on the Champs-Elysees from Saturday morning.

Protesters said the demonstrations had long stopped being about the fuel tax and had turned into a movement for economic justice and against the country’s high living costs.