French protests: As violent protests continue across France over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver, seven people were detained in similar demonstrations in the city of Switzerland as protesters resorted to smashing shop windows in an 'echo' of the French unrest.
According to police, over 100 people gathered in Lausanne, located in French-speaking western part of Swiss territory, apparently responding to social media appeals in connection with the violent demonstrations taking place in France.
AP reported police saying that several shop windows and a shop door were broken, while protesters threw stones and a Molotov cocktail at officers. Six of the seven detained protesters were teenagers aged 15 to 17, along with a 24-year-old Swiss man. No police officers were injured during the demonstrations.
The chaotic situation in France has developed after a police officer fatally shot a teenage delivery driver in Nanterre, a suburban area of Paris. Several videos on social media show youngsters driving expensive sports bikes, barging into and looting an iPhone store, hurling projectiles at police and setting fires all across the country, including the cities of Marseille and Lyon.
France is facing one of its worst riots in years. Amid the severe law and order crisis, the French police haddeployed more than 45,000 troops across the country in an attempt to quell the rising unrest. Some officers were called back from vacation. The police have fired tear gas on protesters, while all public buses and trams have been shut down since Friday following an order for interior minister Gerald Darmanin.
According to the Guardian, a provisional tally of 719 arrests overnight was announced by the interior ministry on early Sunday, as compared with 1,300 arrests on Friday, along with 45 officers injured, 577 vehicles torched, 74 buildings set on fire and 871 fires in streets and other public spaces across France
Meanwhile, French President Emmanual Macron decided to postpone his state visit to Germany. The visit would be rescheduled as soon as possible, the German president's office said.
On Tuesday, officers tried to pull 17-year-old Nahel over because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane. He allegedly ran a red light to avoid being stopped and then got stuck in traffic.
The police officer accused of pulling the trigger was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude that the officer’s use of his weapon wasn’t legally justified. The officer has been placed in preliminary detention.
(with agency inputs)
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