“Supervision of young delinquents by the military” and increased responsibility of parents: the French government presented on Thursday its measures intended to respond to the urban violence which engulfed the country at the beginning of the summer.
This plan follows the riots that occurred after the death on June 27 of young Nahel, killed by a police officer in the Paris region during a road check.
The images of the biker shooting Nahel M. at point-blank range had raised an immense wave of anger in the country, where the death of young men of immigrant background at the hands of the police has often been the detonator of urban riots.
For six consecutive nights, several cities were set ablaze and rioters targeted public establishments and stores. According to government estimates, more than 750 public buildings were affected and some 1,000 businesses vandalized or looted.
To respond to this “crisis of authority”, supervision by the military will be considered for young delinquents and the fine for non-compliance with the curfew will be multiplied by five to 750 euros, announced the first Minister Élisabeth Borne, in front of mayors.
Those who incite violence on social networks may also be temporarily banned.
“Over-represented” single-parent families
The June rioters were mostly men, very young, with few qualifications, she recalled. “Young people from single-parent families” in June were also “strongly over-represented”.
To correct the “resignation” of certain parents in the face of the “drift” of their children, the government intends to legislate to propose community service sentences to those “who evade their educational duties”, declared the Prime Minister.
“When a minor has caused damage, we will ensure that both parents, whether they are separated or not, whether they live with their child or not, are financially responsible for the damage caused,” she also said. said.
During the riots, the police forces, massively deployed, had to “restore order” and not simply “maintain order”, said the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on Thursday.
These riots, shorter but having exceeded those of 2005 in terms of the extent of the damage, shocked the country. “We must work to recivilize,” President Emmanuel Macron urged during the summer.
As of August 1, 2,107 people involved in this violence had been tried and 1,989 sentenced, 90% of whom received a prison sentence, according to the Ministry of Justice.
One hundred million euros (almost CA$150 million) will be released for the repair and reconstruction of the affected buildings, the Prime Minister also indicated on Thursday. Many of them were Republic buildings.