Follow-Up: France Tightens Curbs on Protests: Macron Says "Illegitimate" Demonstrations to Be Banned; Marseille and Lyon Ban Saturday Rallies
PARIS — Authorities in multiple French cities have issued protest bans for this Saturday, October 24, ahead of a new wave of demonstrations. Marseille has banned all protests on Saturday and extended its existing minors' curfew to adults; Lyon, Nice and Montpellier have issued similar bans. Le Monde reported that curfews around Place de la République and Les Halles in Paris would run nightly through Monday morning, though police approved a march from Bastille to Nation.
Interior Ministry figures put weekend arrests at about 2,400, with nearly 1,000 police and gendarmes injured. France 24 reported on October 23 that President Emmanuel Macron would meet with student representatives and law enforcement officials that day.
Macron said on Thursday, October 22, after meeting intelligence chiefs and senior ministers, that "illegitimate" protests would be banned in the coming days, blaming "seditious" ultra-left groups and vandals for last weekend's riots and looting. France's main student union, UNEF, has called for rallies on Saturday, while the Yellow Vest movement has filed plans for a march through central Paris. (GSM, from Reuters, Le Monde and France 24)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 10月17日，巴黎 Boulevard Voltaire，一名消防员扑灭被点燃的汽车（资料图）。图：Jorge Jaramillo / JJxFile，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0 / A Paris firefighter sprays water on a burning car on Boulevard Voltaire, October 17, 2026 (file photo). Photo: Jorge Jaramillo / JJxFile, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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