Paris: France's prime minister Edouard Philippe has announced a ban on yellow vest protests on Paris' Champs-Elysees avenue and in two other cities following riots on Saturday that left luxury stores ransacked and charred from arson fires.
Philippe said the ban will apply for an unspecified period in the neighbourhoods that have been "hit the hardest" in the cities of Paris, Bordeaux and Toulouse where repeated destruction has occurred since the yellow vest protest movement began in November.
Philippe announced a new set of measures on Monday following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and top security officials aimed at avoiding a repeat of Saturday's violence, in which rioters set life-threatening fires, ransacked luxury stores and attacked police around the Champs-Elysees.
"I am not saying looters and the vast majority of Yellow Vest protesters are the same," Philippe said. "In fact, the latter don't take to the streets anymore.
He announced a shift in security strategy to allow police forces to have a greater initiative on the ground to take measures against rioters and disperse crowds.
He said police will use new tools including drones and video surveillance to help preventing violence and send rioters to trial.
"When a protest has been banned and its aim is to ransack and loot, all of those who take part it in and in fact, protect looters, encourage them or glorify them online, are complicit and will have to take their responsibilities", he said.
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The new surge in violence came as the four-month-old yellow vest movement demanding economic justice has been dwindling. Images of the destruction - including from a bank fire that engulfed a residential building and threatened the lives of a mother and child -could further erode public support.
