PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2023) The number of detained demonstrators during the ninth nationwide strike against pension reform that swept France on Thursday, has increased to 200 people, French broadcaster BFMTV reported, citing Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
Darmanin added that 103 of the arrests were made in Paris. He specified that some were detained for "violent acts against individuals vested with public authority" or for "arson."
About 1,500 protesters in Paris participated in riots at administrative buildings and attacked law enforcement officers with Molotov cocktails and rocks, the broadcaster reported.
Darmanin specified that the number of police and gendarmerie officers injured during the protests increased to 149 people.
Up to 1.098 million demonstrators took to the streets in France on Thursday, double the amount present at the previous manifestation on March 15, according to the French Interior Ministry. At the same time, the leading French trade union, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), said that a record 3.5 million people took part in the protests across the whole country. The Paris action gathered around 120,000 people, according to the police, or 800,000, according to the CGT.
A RIA Novosti correspondent reported that shortly after the start of demonstrations in Paris, riots broke out within the columns. There were several clashes between protesters and the police, with the use of Molotov cocktails, firecrackers and bottles from one side, and with tear gas and stun grenades from the other.
France's leading unions announced that the 10th nationwide protest against the pension reform would take place on March 28, according to the broadcaster.
On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that the government had adopted a law on raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 by invoking Article 49.3 of the constitution, which allowed the bill to get passed without parliamentary approval. The decision sparked a strong backlash, prompting people to take to the streets across the country.
The opposition tried to prevent the adoption of the law on Monday through a vote of no confidence in the French government, but failed to secure an absolute majority in the parliament twice.
There have been several nationwide strikes and hundreds of demonstrations in France within the last two months, with over 1 million people taking part in most of them. During the protests, clashes often broke out between the police and the protesters.
