Advertisement

Dozens detained at Paris pro-Palestinian university protest

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Dozens detained at Paris pro-Palestinian university protest
Protesters shout slogans on a street during a rally in support of Palestinian people after a makeshift campement in front of the Sorbonne University was evacuated by police officers in Paris on May 2, 2024. (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP)

French police detained 86 people following an operation to remove students staging a pro-Palestinian occupation at the Sorbonne university in Paris, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Advertisement

Those arrested in the police operation on Tuesday night were being held for a variety of public order offences, said the statement.

They include wilful damage, rebellion, violence against a person holding public authority, intrusion into an education establishment and holding a meeting designed to disrupt order. Some are also being held for participation in a group with a view to preparing violence or damage to property.

Advertisement

They can be held for an initial 24 hours, which can then be extended another 24 hours.

The day before police moved in, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said there would never be a right to disrupt France's universities with such protests.

Police acted after about 100 students had been occupying a lecture theatre for two hours in "solidarity" with the people of Gaza, an AFP journalist on site noted.

Tuesday night's police operation at the Sorbonne - and at another university on Paris's Left Bank, Science Po university - followed interventions to end similar protests at the end of April.

Students at universities in several European countries have followed the actions on US campuses where demonstrators have occupied halls and facilities to demand an end to partnerships with Israeli institutions because of Israel's punishing assault on Gaza.

Police have also intervened to clear campuses in the United States, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7th attacked southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of about 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel estimates that 129 hostages seized on October 7th, out of the 253 taken, are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,789 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run besieged Palestinian territory.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also