New mortar fireworks punctuated Tuesday morning near the Joliot-Curie high school in Nanterre, the scene of clashes since last week between high school students, young people from outside and police, and two young people were arrested, noted an AFP journalist on the spot.
The firing of fireworks, in several directions, took place shortly after 10:00 a.m., in response to two arrests by the police who dispersed a group of young people wearing hoods and dressed in black parked opposite the school, on the forecourt of City Hall. Until then, the situation had been calm, with in particular a strong presence of mediators from the City of Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), according to this journalist. Calm had returned around noon in front of the school.
SEE ALSO – Nanterre: tear gas and clashes between young people and police in front of the Joliot-Curie high school
“Aggravated violence”
A high school student told AFP that she was “shocked“: “It’s nonsense, they wanted to target the cops but shot in our direction, we were too scared with my friends“. “We have to do with some ultras (…) who provoke the police“, estimates Jean-Pierre Bellier, the assistant to the mayor of Nanterre in charge of the educational Action, on the spot. “These react (…) with moderation I find this morning, in comparison with what we have seen other times“.
Read alsoViolence in a high school in Nanterre: two young people arrested after a new scuffle
On Monday, mortar fire broke out near the establishment as well as towards the nearby high school of Claude Chappe. Five minors had been taken into custody. Last week, scuffles between young people and the police led to a total of sixteen young people being placed in police custody, four of whom were summoned to the juvenile court on December 1 for “aggravated violence“.
“Malfunctions”
Monday, October 10, high school students began a protest movement against the end of the homework assistance system, against the rules of procedure and the framework for applying the principle of secularism, but also in support of a teacher and trade unionist transferred, Kai Terada. Tuesday, October 11, they had blocked the school for a few hours.
The climate of this establishment has been troubled since the transfer at the end of September of Kai Terada, professor of mathematics who is also co-secretary of Sud Éducation 92. The transfer decree evokes an activity “outside the social dialogue bodies of the establishment or the normal exercise of a trade union activity“, according to several teachers’ unions.
Read alsoA year after the “sordid” beheading of a retiree in Agde, will the suspect be released from prison?
The Minister of National Education Pap Ndiaye had mentioned on October 15 “a high school that has had a number of dysfunctions for a long time» and evoked «a report from the General Inspectorate in February-March (having) concluded on a certain number of actions to be taken and which have been taken by the rectorate of Versaillesto the Grand Jury of RTL/Le Figaro/LCI.