'France Violent Protests' Raising Tensions in Neighboring Countries... Belgium and Switzerland on Edge
Protests in France have intensified, and during the night of the 2nd, 719 individuals were arrested.
Following the incident where a teenage boy of Algerian descent was killed by a police officer, the large-scale protests that ensued have escalated into violent demonstrations, spreading their impact to neighboring countries such as Belgium and Switzerland.
According to the British daily, The Telegraph, clashes between about 100 protesters and the police took place in the city center of Lausanne, Switzerland. Similar to France, the demonstrators, mostly composed of young people, threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at the police. Lausanne is a city where approximately 80% of the population speaks French.
Local authorities announced that six individuals, aged 15 to 17, holding Portuguese, Somali, Bosnian, Swiss, Georgian, and Serbian nationalities, were apprehended at the scene. They also revealed that a 24-year-old Swiss man is currently under investigation.
On the 29th of last month, Brussels, the capital of Belgium, also experienced violent protests led by French-speaking individuals. Multiple fires were ignited during the demonstrations, and approximately ten people were arrested.
The spread of these violent protests to neighboring countries is largely attributed to the influence of social networking services (SNS). While the French police claimed that the use of firearms against the deceased teenager, Naël, was in self-defense, public anger escalated after a video captured by a witness was shared on SNS. The police's claims of self-defense were contradicted by the video, which depicted an oppressive behavior by law enforcement.
Protests continue within France itself. According to AFP News Agency and other reports, the French government announced that 719 individuals were arrested during the night of the 2nd. The previous day saw the arrest of over 1,300 people, and the total number of arrests has now surpassed 3,000.
Naël's family is urging an end to the unrest. Naël's grandmother, Nadia, expressed her hopes for a peaceful resolution in an interview with French BFM TV, stating, "They are using Naël as an excuse. We hope that the situation will calm down." Another family member, speaking anonymously to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), emphasized, "We have never incited hatred or riots. All of this is not for Naël."