France: Lecornu says curfews helped bring a calm night, more to be decided Tuesday; suspect held over Limoges town hall fire

Update, 5:46pm GMT Tuesday: Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told the National Assembly on Tuesday that soldiers from Opération Sentinelle, the domestic military deployment launched after the 2015 Paris attacks, would be used “mainly on static security missions” during protests expected this weekend, freeing up police and gendarmes, CNBC reported. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told parliament the government would mobilise a “massive” security presence on Saturday with the aim of “an immediate return to order”, CNBC reported, citing Le Monde. The Paris police prefecture set a new curfew around Place de la République and Les Halles from 11pm Tuesday to 6am Wednesday (Paris time) and banned undeclared gatherings from 8pm in areas including around the Élysée, the National Assembly, the Senate and the Champs-Élysées, RFI reported. The Rhône prefect renewed the curfew in central Lyon from 9pm. The “gilets jaunes” coordination behind the protests has called a new day of action for Saturday 24 October, RFI reported.

Update, 1:08pm GMT Tuesday: Shops that were looted or damaged will be able to apply to the public investment bank Bpifrance from Friday for an interest-free loan of up to €50,000, Economy Minister Roland Lescure announced after an exceptional business council on Tuesday, AFP and BFMTV reported. The government also triggered state-funded partial unemployment for staff of shops forced to close; Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou said 10,000 to 15,000 jobs could be concerned, AFP reported. Commerce Minister Serge Papin said “about 3,000 shops” had been hit, nearly 700 of them in Marseille, according to AFP. Curfews were renewed in several cities: in Marseille, a curfew for minors applies in some neighbourhoods from 10pm, Tuesday to Friday, a source close to the matter told AFP, while those in Bordeaux and Nice had already been set for several days. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin asked prosecutors to classify cases as organised crime, which allows longer police custody, AFP reported. France Unbowed (LFI) said it wanted to bring Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez before the Court of Justice of the Republic after a Mediapart report that the government had asked intelligence services to implicate the party in the violence; LFI says the government is responsible for the unrest, AFP reported. The European Union condemned the looting and arson and called on France to “protect” the right to peaceful protest, according to AFP. Figures as of 1:08pm GMT Tuesday.

Update, 9:08am GMT Tuesday: The man arrested over the Limoges town hall fire is a 40-year-old described by a police source as an “ultra-left activist” already on a security watch list (fiché S), Le Parisien and Le Figaro reported. He was detained on Tuesday morning by the RAID police unit, the Limoges prosecutor confirmed to Le Figaro, and France’s anti-terrorism police sub-directorate (SDAT) has taken over the investigation, RTL reported. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will receive party representatives at Matignon on Thursday, his office said, according to Le Figaro, Le Parisien and AFP. “I want to talk to them about the police,” he said, Le Figaro reported (our translation). National Rally leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella said they would not attend but that the party would be represented, 20 Minutes and Le Figaro reported. CFDT union leader Marylise Léon said “the movement is far from over” and called for a new mobilisation on 5 November, ahead of a meeting with the government on Wednesday 21 October, Le Figaro reported.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Tuesday 20 October that the partial curfews imposed in several cities on Monday night had “contributed to the calm of this night”, and that “new curfews will be decided” on Tuesday evening “where the situation requires it”, in a post on X quoted by franceinfo and the BBC (our translation). He said the decisions would be taken “on the ground” by prefects together with mayors, and thanked police and gendarmes for enforcing them.

Monday’s curfews covered the Place de la République and Les Halles in Paris and parts of Lyon, with curfews for minors in Lille, Bordeaux and Nice, Le Figaro reported. A franceinfo reporter said the Paris curfew was respected.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told Europe 1 and CNews that 123 people had been jailed since the weekend’s violence, either in pre-trial detention or under committal orders, and that about 50 judicial investigations had been opened, franceinfo and Le Figaro reported. A Justice Ministry spokesman told franceinfo that of about 2,500 people taken into custody, 700 had been brought before a magistrate. About 1,000 police officers have been injured, officials said, according to the BBC.

A man suspected of involvement in Saturday’s fire at Limoges town hall was arrested in the Haute-Vienne department, RTL, RMC and France Télévisions reported, citing sources close to the case. It is the first reported arrest over the fire.

The government planned more emergency meetings on Tuesday, starting with representatives of the main social media platforms, while the economy ministry was to host an exceptional business council, franceinfo reported.

Figures as of 7:13am GMT. For Monday’s curfew decisions, see our earlier report.