French Government Bans Sound Cannons During Student Protests

Paris, Oct 7 (KUNA) -- The French government announced on Wednesday the suspension of police use of sound bombs against protesting high school students, following the injury of a student whose hand had to be amputated up to the elbow after an explosion from one of these devices. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on French radio station RTL, “I am suspending the use of sound bombs during high school student protests until the truth about the circumstances surrounding the student’s hand amputation is fully established.” He added that the General Inspectorate of the Police has opened investigations into 18 cases stemming from allegations of excessive police force against demonstrators since the student protest movement began in mid-September.

In a related development, the prosecutor’s office in the eastern French city of Vichy announced the opening of an investigation into attempted murder against a police officer who appeared in a video holding a high school student’s head underwater in a waterway near a student protest in Belfort, on the French-Swiss border.

Earlier, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu had called for dialogue with protesting high school students. Lecornu wrote on the social media platform X, “The voices of high school students are precious and must be heard,” adding that this would help contribute to the development of a “concrete action plan.”

At the same time, French student protests are spreading to other parts of Europe, amid pressures on national budgets as governments grapple with successive crises related to rising living and energy costs. In Belgium, police arrested at least 107 people in connection with student protests in Liege, in the French-speaking Wallonia region, earlier this month. (End) M.B. / A.M.S.