1 of 1 NeoNazi march in Paris on May 6, 2023 — Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP NeoNazi march in Paris on May 6, 2023 — Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP
The Paris police and the French Interior Ministry came under criticism this Monday (8) after a demonstration involving around 600 neoNazis on the streets of the French capital was approved last Saturday (6).
Dressed in black and under police surveillance, farright protesters marched through the streets of a neighborhood in the capital, carrying flags marking the 1994 anniversary of the death of farright activist Sebastien Deyzieu.
Socialist Party Senator David Assouline took to social media and sent a message to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin: “Explain yourself!” It is unacceptable that 500 neoNazis and fascists allowed a parade in the middle of Paris. Their organizations, display of their ideology, slogans and badges insult the dead as much as they incite racial hatred,” Assouline said.
France on Monday celebrated the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 and commemorated the lives lost in the fight against fascism.
This citysanctioned concentration of the extreme right comes at a time when the authorities are cracking down on the government by any means necessary. “The pots and pans are apparently more dangerous than the clatter of military boots,” said Communist Party spokesman Ian Brossat.
The leftwing charity Attac also criticized this demonstration of “hatred with complete impunity in the center of Paris”. The intellectual Jacques Attali called the act “intolerable”.
The police try to justify
The Paris police authority said in a statement on Monday that without “demonstrable danger to public order” it had no legal authority to stop the demonstration, which had passed without incident for the past few years.
On Monday, demonstrations were banned around the ChampsElysees, where Macron attended a May 8 ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe war memorial.
In Lyon, the President also paid tribute to French resistance hero Jean Moulin. Demonstrations were also banned in the city, although the CGT union appealed, which was rejected by a local court.