Yellow vests movement
Date | 17 November 2018 - Present |
---|---|
Location | France |
Interest of | Anonyme Citoyen |
Interests | General strike |
Description | A series of mass demonstrations in France which expressed the dissatisfaction with the political process. Subject to increasingly violent repression. |
The Yellow vests movement (in French:Mouvement des gilets jaunes) is a grassroots political and economic justice movement in France. It started in 2018 and in 2019 was subject to increasingly violent repression by the French state authorities.[1][2][3]
Contents
History
After an online petition posted in May had attracted nearly a million signatures, mass demonstrations began on 17 November. The movement was initially motivated by rising fuel prices and a high cost of living; it claims that a disproportionate burden of the government's tax reforms were falling on the working and middle classes, especially in rural areas. The protesters have called for lower fuel taxes, a reintroduction of the solidarity tax on wealth, a minimum-wage increase, the implementation of Citizens' initiative referendums, among other things. On 29 November 2018, a list of 42 demands was made public and went viral on social media, becoming de facto a structuring basis for the movement, covering a wide range of eclectic topics, mostly related to democracy, social and fiscal justice.[4]
Response
Prison sentences for using Facebook
Hedi Martin, an organiser, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment after publishing an event on Facebook.[7]
Police violence
The police officer Didier Andrieux at a protest in Toulon in January 2019.[8][9] |
On 1 December 2018, an 80 year old, Zineb Redouane, was killed by a tear gas grenade.[10][11] Olivier Beziade was shot in the back of the head by French police in January 2019.[12] By January 2019, around 2,000 unarmed demonstrators had been seriously injured, including lost eyes and hands. Around 3,000 had been lightly injured.[13]
Grenade launcher / Tear gas
12,122 LBD rounds (from the LBD 40 "grenade launcher"),[14][15][16][17] 1,428 instant tear gas grenades and 4,942 hand-held sting grenades were fired or thrown between the beginning of the yellow vest movement and 4th February 2019.[18] A third of the eye injuries caused by police weapons in France in the last 20 years have happened during yellow vest protests.[19]
Permission to "open fire"
In March 2019, Bruno Leray explicitly allowed the French police "open fire" if they deemed that lives were threatened by Yellow Vest.[20]
References
- ↑ https://areyouayellowvest.com/no-irreparable-violence-against-yellow-vests-macrons-comments-are-scandalous/ saved at Archive.org
- ↑ https://www.globalresearch.ca/police-repression-in-france-macron-brutal-tactics-against-yellow-vests-have-nothing-to-do-with-public-safety-everything-to-do-with-global-politics/5668375 — on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/posts/creation-of-down-24671591
- ↑ https://borneobulletin.com.bn/frances-yellow-vests-rail-against-police-violence/
- ↑ http://archive.today/2020.08.10-222621/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_vests_movement
- ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47101435
- ↑ https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/29/emmanuel-macrons-france-yellow-jackets-police-europe-year-of-cracking-heads/
- ↑ https://www.activistpost.com/2019/01/journalist-given-six-months-in-prison-for-organizing-yellow-vests-protest-on-facebook.html
- ↑ https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/qui-est-didier-andrieux-le-policier-violent-de-toulon_2056141.html
- ↑ Toulon : le commandant Andrieux a bien porté des coups le premier - another recording of him in a different place by Mediapart
- ↑ https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/12/3/investigation-brings-algerian-womans-death-back-into-spotlight
- ↑ https://desarmons.net/index.php/2019/01/04/recensement-provisoire-des-blesses-graves-des-manifestations-du-mois-de-decembre-2018/
- ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6593807/Shocking-video-shows-fireman-Yellow-Vest-protestor-shot-head-French-police.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- ↑ https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/01/29/gilets-jaunes-civilians-in-police-crosshairs-as-macron-adopts-totalitarian-state-practices-to-suppress-dissent/
- ↑ http://archive.today/2021.02.05-012145/https://www.verney-carron-security.com/en/flash-ball/29-flash-ball-super-pro-fbsp.html
- ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6812675_Injury_pattern_of_the_Flash-BallR_a_less-lethal_weapon_used_for_law_enforcement_Report_of_two_cases_and_review_of_the_literature
- ↑ https://www.leaderbulletin.com/bullet-riddled-eyes-cracked-jaw-the-rubber-missile-launchers-lbd-40-splits-france
- ↑ https://www.rt.com/news/450984-flash-ball-controversy-france/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20190712165133/https://rm.coe.int/commdh-2019-8-memorandum-france-en/1680932f57
- ↑ https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/29/emmanuel-macrons-france-yellow-jackets-police-europe-year-of-cracking-heads/
- ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6838623/French-soldiers-allowed-OPEN-FIRE-lives-threatened-Yellow-Vest-rioters.html