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Local prefects of Avignon, Toulouse and Rouen said the marches were banned before the 20th consecutive weekend of action intended to prevent further acts of violence and looting. In the southern city of Avignon, it is forbidden to gather the yellow vests between 9:00 and 12:00, said the prefect of the Republic, Bertrand Gaume. The prefect of the city of Rouen, in the north of the country, Fabienne Buccio, for its part declared that all the yellow vest marches had been banned from the city center.
A ban on demonstrations in the southern city of Toulouse imposed last week has been renewed.
These announcements follow the government's decision to ban yellow jackets on the Champs-Elysees in Paris after the famous shopping avenue was turned into a battlefield by rioters on Saturday, March 16th, on Saturday, March 16th.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has renewed the ban for at least a week, while the government of President Emmanuel Macron warned that he would react harshly to any new outbreak of violence.
Military units of the Sentinel Anti-Terror Patrol Force were deployed to Paris for the first time last week to support the riot police.
The soldiers were deployed outside public buildings and other key sites to allow the police to focus on crowd control.
Demonstrations against the yellow vest, dubbed the name of the fluorescent jackets that all French drivers must keep in their car and worn by the protesters, began in mid-November after public anger against the planned increases in the tax on the cars. petrol.
The movement has since snowballed into a working-clbad revolt against the Macron government – despite its decision to remove fuel taxes – and has often been tainted by violent clashes.
The weekly demonstrations weighed on the French economy, reducing their economic growth forecast for 2019 from 1.7% to 1.7%. They also cost the German companies some 170 million pounds (200 million euros). 'insurance.
While the number of protesters has decreased in recent months, demonstrations have become increasingly violent due to the presence of "thugs" or "thugs", anxious to cause as much damage as possible.
Macron warned on Thursday that the once peaceful movement had been hijacked by thugs.
At a meeting in Nantes, in the east of the country, he said: "At first, yellow vests were people who were struggling to make ends meet … People who had to go to car work and struggled to cope with rising gas prices.
"And that's why many Frenchmen supported them and said" we agree "with the yellow vests."
"We tried to respond to their anger in December by implementing emergency measures to help increase the purchasing power."
Concessions were offered to protesters as the movement reached its peak at the end of last year, including 8.6 billion pounds (10 billion euros) to increase workers' incomes and the poorest pensioners. But that did not put an end to the troubles.
But then, the movement "entered a second phase," he said: "People have donned a yellow vest to break everything.
"These breakers do not want things to improve, they want to impose their own rules on others, these so-called" ultras "are yellow jackets that I do not like.
"Breaking, attacking the police, disrespecting and insulting people … no cause justifies such behavior."
Earlier this year, lawmakers approved a controversial anti-riot bill banning protesters from hiding their faces during protests, reinforcing the government's efforts to roll back radical members of the movement.
By prohibiting demonstrators from hiding their faces, the bill aims to facilitate the use of facial recognition technology to catch rioters. Anyone hiding their face can face up to one year in prison and a fine of £ 13,000 (€ 15,000).
The bill also gives the police greater powers to extract potential troublemakers from demonstrations.
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