Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

France: repression of the student movement intensifies

M R | 30.11.2007 12:45 | Social Struggles | World

Student demonstrations and occupations are finding themselves the targets of violence organised or incited by the authorities.

November 30th, 2007 by jef costello
www.libcom.org

In Grenoble today students of the IEPG (Institute of political studies) were setting up the blockade they had voted for. The director of the IEPG, Olivier Ihl, threatened to set dogs on them, although the dogs were reluctant. He then started to pull down the barriers and finally took a large piece of metal and struck a student at least twice with it, all the while screaming at students that he'd have them expelled. Shortly after this attack Police called by Ihl charged the students using truncheons and shields to force them back after he made a formal complaint of assault. Video footage here from about 8:40 in.

At the campus of Grenoble II university the President, Alain Spalanzani, lied about the result of the AG and sent an email declaring that the blockade had been lifted. By presenting those on the blockades as having defied an AG he deliberately placed them at great risk, furthermore by opening a side door he allowed many non-strikers to enter the building, again trying to provoke confrontation. The police and gendarmes were then sent in against the students, striking and gassing strikers and non-strikers alike. One policeman was heard to shout at a student "You won't shout so much with broken teeth" before hitting him in the face with a baton. One student was hospitalised after a severe asthma attack caused by gas, with several students suffering broken fingers and other injuries in the rush to get away from the indiscriminate police attacks.
In Caen yesterday 6 demonstrators were arrested and three hospitalised after police attacked a peaceful occupation of the education authority, once students and schoolchildren had been forced out using tear gas and baton blows they were then fired upon in the streets using 'flashballs' (a gun firing heavy rubber bullets) a 16 year-old-boy was struck in the face and is likely to lose his eye. Back at the campus police from the BAC (plainclothes Anti-criminality brigade) threatened to arrest a student but seeing other students coming out of the building decided to make a swift retreat.

As a result of these actions the AG at Nantes yesterday voted to call for the dissolution of the BACs widely seen as a more sinister although slightly more discriminating version of the CRS.
At Paris VII yesterday some 80 CRS forced the blockades, although few students and teachers entered, an AG was called to condemn the intruson of police on the campus. A student then stole the helmet of a CRS riot policeman, he was thrown to the floor and handcuffed but other students forced back the CRS and succeeded in destroying the handcuffs and freeing the prisoner.

Near the Censier campus in Paris an 86 year-old man was arrested after shooting at a student, who was fixing a banner to the university wall some five metres up, with an air rifle. Students at the campus claim that far-right slogans and symbols have been painted all over the campus and surrounding area in recent days.

In Lyon on Wednesday night the CRS were sent in to end the occupation after complaints were made that some 50 students stole 5 trollies worth of food from a local supermarket chain. Arrests were made, it is unclear how many.

And at Nanterre Campus yesterday a student involved with the blockades was attacked by a group of four right-wingers at around 10:30pm.
In more positive news Marne la Vallée, a university not known for militancy, began a blockade today after students voted for a blockade and strikes yesterday and over 150 lycées are now blockaded.

----
 http://libcom.org/news/france-repression-student-movement-intensifies-30112007
for original story with pictures

M R

Additions

Pictures from Nantes demo and police attack

30.11.2007 16:07

Nantes demo of students and school pupils
Nantes demo of students and school pupils

Cops attack the demo
Cops attack the demo

Comrades come to aid of wounded girl
Comrades come to aid of wounded girl

Nantes: 28th November:
12 colleges are blocked today in Nantes. On the National day of action, 2000 high-school pupils and 1000 students protested in the streets of Nantes. At the final gathering point, one hundred of CRS arrived on the spot and violently pushed into the crowd with the assistance of the Brigade Anti-Criminality (BAC). The police eventually attacked the demo firing flashballs. Paniced under the blows of truncheons, the first lines tried to escape from the blows. Other people tried to make lines to avoid the arrests. During the attacks, a 17 year old high-school pupil was seriously wounded in the head by a flash ball.

300 people make the decision to go to the police station at Waldeck Rousseau to demand the release of the arrested students there. 150 CRS await them and a two hour stand off happens.

Merlin Rouge


Comments

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech