Police arrest dozens for jeering Hollande
Print Edition
French police arrested about 70 people at an Armistice Day memorial ceremony yesterday after protesters who the government said were linked to the far right booed President Francois Hollande.
Newscasters said it was the first time a French head of state had been jeered on November 11, which commemorates the signing of the armistice in 1918 between World War I allies and Germany.
Scuffles erupted between police and the protesters as the Socialist president’s motorcade drove up the tree-lined Champs-Elysees boulevard to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe in central Paris.
Some of the protesters shouted “Hollande, step down” and “Socialist Dictator!” and Interior Minister Manuel Valls said they included members of far-right groups opposed to government policies such as same-sex marriages.
“Today on the Champs-Elysees, several dozen individuals linked to the far right ... did not want to respect this moment of contemplation and gathering,” Valls said, describing their actions as “unacceptable.”
One protester told BFM-TV the boos and gibes were targeted purely at Hollande.
“I find it absolutely shameful that we don’t have the right to speak up without being arrested,” said the woman. “Saying ‘Hollande, step down’ is not offensive.”
“We have the impression that he’s not listening so we have to protest,” she said, without elaborating.
A CSA poll published last Friday showed Hollande’s popularity ratings had plummeted due to an ailing economy, heavy taxes and other issues.
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