Thousands march to protest state of emergency in France
Up to 20,000 protesters – many of them members of human rights groups, political parties and trade unions – took part in a peaceful protest in Paris on Saturday, RTL reported the organizers as saying.
According to police estimates, some 5,500 people gathered in the heart of the French capital, between Place de la République and the Palais-Royal, holding banners that read: “State of emergency, police state” and “My France of liberties, where are you?”
“I am here to protest against the state of emergency and against the deprivation of nationality for dual nationals. That’s important because we saw a lot of drifts during the state of emergency, some rallies were prohibited, some people were arrested just for protesting peacefully. That shocks me,” one activist told RT’s Ruptly video agency.
“The state is allowing itself to take absolutely catastrophic decisions for the life and future of liberty of France,” Youssef Boussoumah, member of the Indigenes de la Republique party, said.
One woman at the Paris rally, referring to Islamic State, told RTL: “The state of emergency is until when? The end of Daesh? 10 years? Never?”
Another participant, Grenut Louise, a student, told Le Monde:”They impose this state of emergency on us by pure political calculation, the government has no other card to play, except for the security-related one.”
“It is cynical to play on our fears to impose this state of permanent exception when we already have laws and means to fight terrorism,” she added.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
