Over 450 individuals detained amidst the protests in France

Moscow, July 2 – According to Agence France-Presse, citing data from the French Ministry of the Interior, the number of people arrested during the protests in France at night from Saturday to Sunday exceeded 450.

Earlier, the agency stated, citing preliminary data from the Ministry of the Interior, that 322 people had been arrested in France, including 126 in Paris and its suburbs.

“At 3.30 am (04.30 Moscow time), the Interior Ministry has not identified any serious incidents and reported 486 arrests across the country, mainly for carrying items that can be used as weapons,” the agency wrote.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Saturday that around 45,000 police would be involved in the unrest in the country, with large reinforcements being sent to Lyon and Marseille. French Justice Minister Eric Dupont-Moretti said prosecutors should require internet operators to obtain the IP addresses of young people calling riots on Snapchat, allowing you to post videos that remain visible for just a few seconds and exchange private messages. Most of the videos about the riots taking place in the country are posted on this social network.

Earlier media reported that the French government met on Friday with representatives of digital platforms amid unrest in the country. And BFMTV specified that the head of the Ministry of the Interior and Minister Delegate for Digitization and Communications Jean-Noel Barrow will “warn” platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter “of their responsibility and ask them for support”, in particular, to identify social network users involved in “abuse”.

On Tuesday morning, police officers shot and killed a 17-year-old during a road check in Nanterre, who, according to security officials, refused to comply with their demands. In a number of French cities, riots broke out, which lasted for several days. According to the Ministry of the Interior, youth across the country set fire to about 3.3 thousand cars, in addition to police and government buildings. According to the Ministry of Economy, about 250 bank branches, 200 grocery stores and about a dozen shopping centers were looted. Special police forces are deployed in a number of cities, with armored vehicles and helicopters participating. In total, about 2.4 thousand people were arrested, a third of whom were minors.