Calay News
The French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, announced that the country would prohibit demonstrations by far-right groups. Darmanin instructed prefects to issue orders banning any far-right activists or associations from requesting authorization to demonstrate. Nevertheless, the courts will be allowed to decide whether the jurisprudence allows these demonstrations to take place.
The decision came after almost 600 activists from the May 9 Committee protested in Paris on Saturday to commemorate the accidental death of far-right militant Sebastien Deyzieu in 1994. The protesters, dressed in black and often masked, displayed black flags with the Celtic cross, used by white supremacists.
The images of the march caused controversy, especially at a time when authorities are trying to ban pot-banging protests organized by unions against President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular pension reform.
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne called the images of the far-right march “shocking,” but deemed that there was no reason to ban it, such as disturbance of public order, and defended the “right to demonstrate.” Despite Borne’s opinion, the left-wing opposition demanded explanations from the government for allowing the march, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen also called the demonstration “unacceptable.”
