PARIS —
Paris police fired tear gas and issued hundreds of fines on Saturday to break up a
convoy of vehicles that attempted to block traffic in a protest over
coronavirus restrictions and rising living costs.
اضافة اعلان
Inspired by truckers who shut down the Canadian
capital
Ottawa, thousands of demonstrators from across France made their way to
Paris in a self-proclaimed “freedom convoy” of cars, trucks, and vans.
The police, who had banned the protest, moved
quickly to try to clear cars at entry points to the city, handing out 283 fines
for participation in an unauthorized protest.
But more than 100 vehicles managed to converge on
the famous Champs-Elysees avenue, where police used teargas to disperse
protesters in scenes reminiscent of the “yellow vest” anti-government riots of
2018–2019.
The demonstrators oppose the
COVID-19 vaccine pass
required to access many public venues but some also took aim at rising energy
and food prices, issues which ignited the “yellow vest” protests that shook
France in late 2018 and early 2019.
Aurelie M., a 42-year-old administrative assistant
from Paris, complained that the health pass meant she could no longer take a
long-distance TGV train even if she tested negative for COVID-19 in a home
test.
“There’s so much inconsistency and unfairness,” she
told AFP, noting that commuters could still cram onto crowded Paris metros
without proof of vaccination.
‘Fatigue leads to anger’
Sixty-five-year-old factory
worker Jean-Paul Lavigne said he had traveled in from the southwestern town of
Albi to protest not just the pressure to get vaccinated, but also fuel, food,
and electricity price hikes.
Across the rest of the capital, more than 7,600
other people also protested against the vaccination pass, the interior ministry
said.
The demonstrations come two months before
presidential elections, in which President
Emmanuel Macron is expected to seek
re-election.
On Friday, the centrist French leader, a figure of
hate for the far left, said he understood the “fatigue” linked to the pandemic.
“This fatigue also leads to anger. I understand it
... But I call for the utmost calm,” he told the Ouest-France newspaper.
Nearly 7,200 officers equipped with armored vehicles
and water cannons were deployed to keep the peace in Paris.
The convoys set out from Nice in the south, Lille
and Vimy in the north, Strasbourg in the east, and Chateaubourg in the west.
They are demanding the withdrawal of the
government’s vaccine pass and more help with their energy bills.
“People need to see us, and to listen to the people who just
want to live a normal and free life,” said Lisa, a 62-year-old retired health
worker travelling in from Chateaubourg, who did not want to give her surname.
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