Scool student protester charged with attempted murder of French police officer
A French school student has been charged with attempted murder of a police officer on a protest against the government's planned labour reform on 3 May. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve paid tribute to the police on Sunday in Rennes, the day after a ban on an anti-cop protest was enforced in the city.
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The 18-year-old school student was charged with attempted homicide of a person with public authority after two days in detention in the western city of Nantes on Saturday.
During a protest against the government's labour reform bill in the city on 3 May, the officer was separated from his squadron and was floored by a blow from behind.A group of five or six young demonstrators set upon him, tore off his helmet and kicked and struck him on the head with an iron bar.
He was treated in hospital where he was given stitches in the head and face.
The school student, who has no previous convictions, was arrested on another demonstration on Thursday.
According to prosecutors, he has admitted knocking the police officer down but denies hitting him.
Cazeneuve hails police in Rennes
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Sunday paid tribute to the police on a visit to the western city of Rennes on Sunday.
"The forces of order find themselves confronted with groups of an extreme violence, who are not there to make their demands known ... but to smash things up, to destroy, to express their hatred of the state and its institutions," he said outside the city's main police station.
On Saturday police used teargas and Flashballs to prevent several hundred people taking part in a banned protest against police brutality.
On Friday evening a mob attacked banks, shops and government buildings in the city centre.
There have been 1,300 arrests on protests against the bill, Cazeneuve said, and 51 people have been found guilty in court.
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