Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez Defends Police Actions Amid Youth Protest Criticism
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said police protect students exercising peaceful demands and rejected claims of disproportionate force.
Laurent Nuñez, France's interior minister, countered the Syndicat de la magistrature's call to stop "repressing youth" by asserting that law-enforcement agencies protect pupils and students who wish to voice their demands peacefully. He rejected any notion of disproportionate police action, stressing that officers intervene promptly to halt damage, violence, and misconduct, with proportionality overseen by their superiors and, when needed, the justice system.
Nuñez condemned the union's accusations as serious, baseless, and out of touch with real conditions. He also noted that recent police activity has resulted in over 5,000 arrests, roughly 85% of whom are minors, linked to the ongoing high-school movement. Five investigations have been opened by the police oversight body, the IGPN.
Why it matters
The minister's defense shapes public perception of police conduct during widespread student protests.
In this story
