Protesters forming a Freedom Convoy to converge on Paris and rally against national coronavirus restrictions will be blocked from entry, the French capital’s police authority said on Thursday.
Paris and Brussels have been targeted by those demanding an end to social restrictions, inspired by demonstrators who have taken to the streets of the Canadian capital Ottawa and elsewhere.
The Paris prefecture said the protesters would be prohibited from entering the capital from Feb. 11-14.
Citing “risks of trouble to public order,” the capital’s police department banned protests aimed at “blocking the capital” from Friday through Monday.
Police will put measures in place to protect roads and detain violators.
Protesters prepare to leave for Paris, in Bayonne, southwestern France, Wednesday, Feb.9, 2022. Paris police on Thursday Feb.10, 2022 banned road blockades threatened by groups organizing online against COVID-19 restrictions. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)
A man holds a banner reading “Macron, piss off too !” as he attends the “Convoi de la Liberté” in Nice, southeastern France, on February 9, 2022. Thousands of opponents to the health pass want to “drive on Paris” on February 09, 2022, as part of a citizens’ action called “freedom convoys”, inspired by Canadian lorry drivers blocking the centre of the capital Ottawa. (VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
A woman waves the French and Canadian flags as she takes part in the “Convoi de la Liberté” in Nice, southeastern France, on february 9, 2022. (VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)
Police have warned anyone joining the protests risk a two-year prison sentence, a three-year driving ban plus a fine. The penalties have been invoked as France has seen weekly protests against vaccine rules and virus-related restrictions for several months.
Small groups of drivers set out Wednesday from Bayonne on France’s Atlantic coast and Nice on the French Riviera, with stickers on their cars reading “Freedom Convoy.” Departures were also reported in other cities, AP reports.
Despite the ban, the Daily Mail reports organisers of the convoy have indicated that they will continue their journey to force a confrontation with the authorities.
They are being supported by the Yellow Vest anti-government movement, which has brought chaos to cities including the French capital in recent years.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal told the Mail he recognised the public’s “weariness” with infection control measures, but insisted France had been among the European countries with “the fewest restrictions that infringe on citizens’ freedom.”