The key facts

  • The action took place at the Grands Moulins campus in Paris's 13th arrondissement from noon to 3:00 p.m. local time
  • The prefecture banned the march to La Santé prison, and the Paris Administrative Court upheld the ban
  • Participants demanded that charges against demonstrators be dropped and prisoners in protest-related cases be released

Action held under a march ban and heightened police surveillance

Students and activists gathered in Paris on Thursday for an action against police and judicial measures targeting social movements, despite a ban on the march, Anadolu reports. The organizer was the Regional Student Coordination of Île-de-France; the venue was the Grands Moulins campus of Paris Cité University in the 13th arrondissement, where from noon to 3:00 p.m. local time (11:00–14:00 GMT) an 'anti-repression village' operated with information stands, workshops and speeches.

Participants' demands and the march ban

Participants demanded that charges against demonstrators be dropped, that prisoners held in protest-related cases be released, and that the right to peaceful assembly be protected. The Paris police prefecture banned the march, which was to set off from the campus at 3:00 p.m. toward La Santé prison, citing risks to public order after violence during previous demonstrations; the Paris Administrative Court upheld the restriction — according to Revolution Permanente, cited by Anadolu. Dozens of police officers were stationed around the campus, including gendarmes in helmets and with shields, as well as police cars and motorcycles.

Context: discrepancy in crowd size estimates

The action followed nationwide protests on October 24. According to the interior ministry, 410,000 people took part, but the CGT union put the figure at 800,000 — the nearly twofold discrepancy remains unresolved, as no independent verification is provided in the publication.