Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told RTL radio on Wednesday that he had ordered a temporary halt to the use of the grenades in the high school students' movement after a 15-year-old lost a hand during a protest in Lens, northern France, on Monday. [E4] Earlier editions counted this wave's arrests and lycée closures; they did not have the munition order.
Nuñez said there is a strong possibility a police grenade caused the injury, Reuters reported, with the precise mechanics still under investigation. [E1]
Authorities have not confirmed the exact circumstances, in particular whether the boy had picked up the grenade or been struck by it, but said up to 200 protesters had been hurling projectiles at police when the riot squad intervened. [E5]
Reuters reported that the high school students were protesting a lack of funding in education. [E2]
Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister, gathered the 36 prosecutors-general at the start of the movement and instructed them to show the greatest firmness in their submissions, to prefer fast-track trials whenever possible, and to engage the civil liability of parents of arrested minors where possible. [E6]
A Justice Ministry tally said that since the start of the violence, 5,060 people have been placed in police custody, 87% of them minors, and that 1,802 people face prosecution. Fourteen have been placed in pretrial detention. [E7]
Reuters reported that protests showed no sign of ending, with more later in the week. [E3]