30 June 2023; MEMO: All options, including putting the country in a state of emergency, will be considered to restore law and order after a third night of protests over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old French-Algerian, the French prime minister said today.
Elisabeth Borne told reporters that the government will be examining "all the options" with President Emmanuel Macron, who will hold an emergency meeting in the afternoon.
Earlier, the Le Figaro newspaper reported that the French president is prepared to adopt measures to restore law and order "without taboo." It said Macron left early from an EU summit in Brussels to return to Paris.
The president is expected to be briefed by Borne and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on recommendations to tackle the situation that developed after Nahel M. was shot dead at point blank range by police on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say the officer who killed the teenager has been charged with voluntary homicide and placed in pre-trial detention.
Hundreds have since been arrested across France, with protests reported in many cities including Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Roubaix, Marseille and Lille.
The protesters set fire to various buildings and vandalised public property. A number of suburbs and towns in the Parisian region imposed curfews in an effort to stem the unrest.
As many as 942 buildings were targeted, 2,000 vehicles set on fire and a total of 3,880 fires were started overnight, Le Figaro quoted Macron as saying.
