The Minister of the Interior of France, Gérald Darmanin, has communicated that he has given instructions to the prosecutors of the country to request provisional imprisonment against the authors of attacks directed against the Police and against properties owned by the public.
The minister demands prison sentences "for those who have attacked the law enforcement forces, firefighters, public buildings, and commercial establishments" during the serious disturbances recorded this Saturday in the main French cities in the context of the current wave of demonstrations and social protests.
"Today there have been and continue to be at this moment acts of urban violence of unprecedented severity (...). I have reiterated to all the attorneys general and prosecutors the need to offer an extremely firm judicial response, commensurate with the violence that has struck our country," Darmanin has stated through his social networks.
Darmanin's message has been disseminated while he participated this Saturday afternoon in an emergency meeting held at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, where the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, and the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Núñez, were also present.
The security forces have detained at least 400 people. "I want to praise the rapid response of the internal security forces," Núñez highlighted. The minister emphasized that the attacks were "very difficult to contain," despite which the agents "performed commendable work, prevented widespread damage, and made numerous arrests." "The vast majority of those detained are adults," he explained.
According to the count by the television networks TF1-LCI, there have been 270 looting incidents in businesses spread across the French territory. In addition, several institutional headquarters have been attacked, including the Town Hall of Limoges, which has been completely destroyed by a fire.