Thousands of supporters and representatives of left-wing parties, political and trade union activists, environmental activists protested against the far-right and violated freedoms in many French cities.
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, more than 37,000 people took to the streets in 140 French cities, including 9,000 in Paris, to protest the violation of freedoms and the far right.
According to the organizers of the demonstration, the number of protesters across France was 150,000, including 70,000 in Paris.
Le Monde added: French protesters have accused right-wing parties and the government of promoting the far right and passing laws violating freedom, including a comprehensive security law.
According to the French newspaper, former French presidential candidate Benoit Amon expressed hope that the protest rallies would not be limited to far-right organizations and would also include far-right ideas and thoughts, and said: At present, the ideas of the far right are not limited to right-wing parties and have spread to the entire political class of society.
In an interview with France Inter, Julien Bio, the number one activist of the Green Party, called the spontaneous movement of the people necessary and said: Our freedoms are literally in jeopardy.
Le Monde went on to write: In the French city of Nantes, nearly 900 people marched, with 100 members of the far-left party clashing with police.
AFP also reported: During the demonstration, an unknown person sprinkled flour on Jean-Luc Melanchon, the leader of the leftist party “Invincible France” and the candidate for the 2022 French presidential election, while speaking to reporters.
Police sources reported the arrest of a man who had sprinkled flour on their melancholy on charges of intentional violence against an official. The French prosecutor’s office also said an investigation was under way.
According to AFP, Melenchon condemned the move, calling it cowardly, crossing the threshold of tolerance of the French people and indicating high tensions in the country.
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Valls was attacked by a young man with flour during a trip to Strasbourg to repeat the story of spraying flour on the country’s presidential candidates after about five years.
Former French President François Hollande was attacked by a woman in a public program in February 2011 by throwing a bag of flour, but was not harmed. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has previously been attacked in a public program, but managed to escape with the intervention of his bodyguards. In the past, high-ranking French officials, including Jacques Chirac, have been the target of such attacks in 2002.