High-school students protest police violence in Paris

By Hajer M’tiri

PARIS

Hundreds of high-school students protested against police brutality on Thursday following the alleged rape of a young black man by officers, and clashed with riot police at the Place de la Nation on the eastern side of the French capital.

Police said 40 students were arrested on the sidelines of the “unauthorized” protests for throwing projectiles, theft and vandalism. Thirty-nine were placed in police custody.

Between 800 and 1,000 high-school students had gathered at the Place de la Nation, police said.

TV footage and photos shared on social media showed doors of several Parisian high schools blocked by refuse bins and daubed with slogans denouncing police violence after the so-called Theo affair.

Tension in French suburbs has simmered over the alleged rape of a 22-year-old man -- identified only as Theo -- by police during an ID check.

One officer has been charged with rape while the others face charges of voluntary aggravated violence.

Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux has suspended the four police officers.

More than 300 people have been arrested since the outbreak of riots on Feb. 4.

At least 10 Parisian high schools have been totally blocked and classes have been disrupted in 16 others, according to education authorities.

France Info radio reported clashes between students and police in the capital's 11th arrondissement in front of the Voltaire high school. Footage shows refuse bins being set alight and police using tear gas to disperse crowds.

A similar protest took place in Montpelier, southern France.

The unrest, which started earlier this month in several Paris suburbs, quickly spread to Lille, Marseille and other French cities, carrying echoes of riots that rocked the country in 2005 over the deaths of Bouna Traore, 15, and Zyed Benna, 17 -- electrocuted in a power substation after being chased by police in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.