Paris, France. Violence broke out in the wake of the election results today as voters realized a controversy was in play over voting irregularities in the 2017 Presidential elections that seated Emmanuel Macron as France’s new president.
French police used tear gas and rubber bullets against participants of the protest, which took place on Monday in eastern Paris, media pool reporters indicate.
A demonstration against the results of the elections began at the Republic Square. Now the demonstrators have reached the Boulevard de Beaumarchais. On their way the police have blocked and secured the area with cordons.
News correspondents reporting from the scene, say after the violence after the police tried to stop the large group, law enforcement officers cut off one group from the main procession, the youth from this squad were sandwiched between two police lines. The rest of the protesters were behind them.
The French riot police beat a journalist from Sputnik France. As reported in the agency, she was deprived of a helmet and the police tried to break her phone, from which a live broadcast of events was being made. Many journalists present at the event were also attacked by law enforcement officers.
On the day after the announcement of the preliminary results of the elections in Paris, demonstrations took place that turned into clashes with the police. As the Agency France Press reported, citing a source in law enforcement agencies, about 140 people were arrested, and nine detained.
Sunday saw the second round of presidential elections took place in France. The victory was won by the leader of the “Forward” movement Emmanuel Macron, who scored 66.1% of the vote. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the turnout was almost 75%. Elections officials reported about 3 million voters voted with an empty ballot, another one million submitted ballots that could not be validated according to French elections officials.