Non-participants could face up to 10,000 euros in damages

Senate to take up bill this week; far-right party backs measure

Le Pen: 'They will pay, even if it takes a lifetime'

Left-wing parties, unions warn of 'end of street protests'

French police face off against protesters in Paris on Saturday. Authorities said they deployed more than 70,000 security personnel to contain the demonstrations, and warned that posts inciting violence and looting were circulating on social media. [AFP]
French police face off against protesters in Paris on Saturday. Authorities said they deployed more than 70,000 security personnel to contain the demonstrations, and warned that posts inciting violence and looting were circulating on social media. [AFP]

France is pushing to enact a so-called "solidarity damages" law that would hold protesters financially liable for looting and vandalism during a demonstration — even if they did not personally take part in the destruction. The proposal has drawn support from a leading presidential candidate, while labor groups and the left are pushing back hard.

The Guardian reported Sunday (local time) that the French Senate will take up the "vandals pay" bill this week, a measure the government of President Emmanuel Macron is fast-tracking. Under the proposal, anyone who was part of the same group as vandals — or who continued demonstrating nearby — could be held liable for up to 10,000 euros ($11,200), even if they personally damaged nothing. The bill also includes provisions to expand drone use to monitor protest sites.

The legislation was originally prompted by unrest that followed Paris Saint-Germain's UEFA Champions League victory over Arsenal last May, when jubilant fans spilled into the streets and violence broke out. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has since called the law "absolutely necessary" after a wave of looting and arson at nationwide protests.

The bill is expected to gain momentum with the backing of Marine Le Pen, a lawmaker of the far-right National Rally party and the front-runner in the next presidential race.

Le Pen was convicted in a European Parliament funds misappropriation case but had her period of ineligibility suspended, and quickly launched her presidential bid. She kicked off her campaign Sunday in Orléans before a crowd of some 8,000 people, declaring she would "restore order to France."

The National Rally went further, claiming the vandals pay bill had been its own idea. At the rally, Le Pen warned that "those who broke things will pay — even if it takes a lifetime."

Left-wing parties and labor groups reacted with fury. Eric Coquerel, a lawmaker from the left-wing party La France Insoumise, criticized the bill as signaling "the end of street protests." Communist Party Senator Fabien Gay warned that if the bill passed, "there will never be another protest in this country."

Left-wing unions and the French Human Rights League sent an open letter to the daily Le Monde, calling the law "a serious attack on the freedom to protest" and demanding it be withdrawn.


kate01@heraldcorp.com