The Fort Worth Press - Paris police clamp down on Canada-style 'freedom convoy'

USD -
AED 3.673025
AFN 71.548685
ALL 89.774885
AMD 390.742248
ANG 1.790208
AOA 916.000304
ARS 1074.379902
AUD 1.600794
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.69782
BAM 1.768195
BBD 2.01763
BDT 121.408553
BGN 1.761997
BHD 0.376924
BIF 2969.894223
BMD 1
BND 1.335232
BOB 6.904439
BRL 5.633598
BSD 0.999277
BTN 85.310551
BWP 13.830576
BYN 3.270138
BYR 19600
BZD 2.007233
CAD 1.409755
CDF 2873.000032
CHF 0.8552
CLF 0.024745
CLP 949.560009
CNY 7.28155
CNH 7.25325
COP 4153.75
CRC 503.480698
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 99.688093
CZK 22.656696
DJF 177.940512
DKK 6.739485
DOP 63.104602
DZD 132.973986
EGP 50.594602
ERN 15
ETB 131.535666
EUR 0.903285
FJD 2.314904
FKP 0.770718
GBP 0.764025
GEL 2.750171
GGP 0.770718
GHS 15.488654
GIP 0.770718
GMD 71.504736
GNF 8647.500226
GTQ 7.712684
GYD 209.058855
HKD 7.774025
HNL 25.566404
HRK 6.8038
HTG 130.756713
HUF 364.521503
IDR 16744.7
ILS 3.697115
IMP 0.770718
INR 85.205503
IQD 1309.013652
IRR 42099.999732
ISK 130.359555
JEP 0.770718
JMD 157.390833
JOD 0.708898
JPY 145.945497
KES 129.159521
KGS 86.7116
KHR 3996.926137
KMF 450.500846
KPW 900.05404
KRW 1432.869967
KWD 0.30764
KYD 0.832746
KZT 500.949281
LAK 21648.13308
LBP 89589.614475
LKR 296.754362
LRD 199.855348
LSL 18.834644
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.832294
MAD 9.503842
MDL 17.846488
MGA 4557.454118
MKD 55.527732
MMK 2099.453956
MNT 3493.458295
MOP 8.006871
MRU 39.710695
MUR 45.00987
MVR 15.39681
MWK 1732.754724
MXN 19.967897
MYR 4.423498
MZN 63.910176
NAD 18.834644
NGN 1535.589882
NIO 36.768827
NOK 10.36597
NPR 136.4967
NZD 1.74723
OMR 0.384994
PAB 0.999277
PEN 3.669288
PGK 4.122593
PHP 56.849932
PKR 280.290751
PLN 3.81879
PYG 8017.358286
QAR 3.642528
RON 4.496199
RSD 105.824958
RUB 84.013876
RWF 1425.910858
SAR 3.75163
SBD 8.316332
SCR 14.301001
SDG 600.566306
SEK 9.78756
SGD 1.333125
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.749955
SLL 20969.501083
SOS 571.105687
SRD 36.550135
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.743332
SYP 13002.701498
SZL 18.841877
THB 34.106502
TJS 10.876865
TMT 3.5
TND 3.05759
TOP 2.3421
TRY 38.00733
TTD 6.775156
TWD 32.870221
TZS 2659.999781
UAH 41.249706
UGX 3641.623723
UYU 42.211373
UZS 12905.704728
VES 70.161515
VND 25805
VUV 123.569394
WST 2.832833
XAF 593.035892
XAG 0.031589
XAU 0.000322
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.737546
XOF 593.035892
XPF 107.820269
YER 245.64975
ZAR 18.84945
ZMK 9001.205074
ZMW 27.754272
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    69.0200

    69.02

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0200

    9.78

    -0.2%

  • RELX

    0.4600

    51.44

    +0.89%

  • CMSC

    -0.2400

    22.26

    -1.08%

  • GSK

    1.3700

    39.01

    +3.51%

  • NGG

    3.6100

    69.39

    +5.2%

  • SCS

    -0.7200

    10.74

    -6.7%

  • RIO

    -1.4700

    58.43

    -2.52%

  • BP

    -2.4700

    31.34

    -7.88%

  • BTI

    1.6700

    41.92

    +3.98%

  • AZN

    1.7000

    73.92

    +2.3%

  • JRI

    -0.2200

    12.82

    -1.72%

  • VOD

    0.2500

    9.37

    +2.67%

  • BCC

    -7.4400

    94.63

    -7.86%

  • BCE

    0.8400

    22.66

    +3.71%

  • CMSD

    -0.1600

    22.67

    -0.71%

Paris police clamp down on Canada-style 'freedom convoy'
Paris police clamp down on Canada-style 'freedom convoy'

Paris police clamp down on Canada-style 'freedom convoy'

A French "freedom convoy" of cars and vans began arriving in Paris on Saturday for a protest over coronavirus restrictions, but the police moved quickly to prevent a Canadian-style blockade of the capital by issuing hundreds of fines.

Text size:

Inspired by the truckers that shut down the Canadian capital Ottawa, thousands of demonstrators from across France said they planned to form "a mass of vehicles that the security forces would find impossible to contain".

Several hundred vehicles, mostly vans, mobile-homes and cars, converged on the main ring road around the city after spending the night camped on the outskirts of the capital.

But the police acted quickly, issuing 283 fines for "participation in an unauthorised protest" by mid-morning.

The demonstrators include anti-Covid vaccination activists, but also people angry at fast-rising energy prices, some of whom took part in the "Yellow Vest" protest movement of 2018/2019.

Just two months ahead of presidential elections and with the government desperate to avoid a repeat of the "Yellow Vest" riots that shook the capital, Macron said Friday he understood the "fatigue" linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

- 'Fatigue leads to anger' -

"This fatigue also leads to anger. I understand it and I respect it. But I call for the utmost calm," he told the Ouest-France newspaper.

Nearly 7,200 officers have been deployed to prevent a blockade, with the Champs-Elysees avenue, which was the epicentre of the "Yellow Vest" protests, under particularly heavy guard.

Police showed off their anti-blockage arsenal on Twitter, publishing photographs of loader tractors for the removal of barricades as well as trucks equipped with cranes or water cannon.

Gendarmerie armoured vehicles have also been deployed in the streets of the capital for the first time since the "Yellow Vest" protests.

Prime Minister Jean Castex vowed to remain steadfast.

"If they block traffic or if they try to block the capital, we must be very firm about this," he told France 2 television.

The convoys set out from Nice in the south, Lille and Vimy in the north, Strasbourg in the east and Chateaubourg in the west.

- 'It's a betrayal' -

They are demanding the withdrawal of the government's vaccine pass, which is required for access to many public spaces, and more help with their energy bills.

"People need to see us, and to listen to the people who just want to live a normal and free life," said Lisa, a 62-year-old retired health worker travelling in the Chateaubourg convoy, who did not want to give her surname.

Paris police banned the gathering saying it posed a threat to public order and said protesters who tried to block roads would face fines or arrest.

The order prohibiting the assembly of convoys was upheld on Friday by the courts, which rejected two appeals.

"It's a betrayal. The basis of the order is not respectful of the law, of the freedom to demonstrate," anti-vaccine and "yellow vest" activist Sophie Tissier told AFP.

The prime minister defended the clampdown.

"The right to demonstrate and to have an opinion are a constitutionally guaranteed right in our republic and in our democracy. The right to block others or to prevent coming and going is not," he said.

From Paris, some of the protesters plan to travel on to Brussels for a "European convergence" of protesters planned there for Monday.

Phil, a 58-year-old on his way by truck from Brittany, said his refusal to get vaccinated had created "upheaval" in his family and work relations.

"When you join a demonstration you feel less alone," he told AFP.

burs-ao/cb/ach

J.P.Cortez--TFWP