France to deploy 70,000 police at Saturday protests

France will deploy 70,000 police officers at protests on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez says, amid fears of violence after demonstrations last weekend drew sharply different crowd estimates from the authorities and organisers.

The interior ministry put attendance at 410,000 last Saturday, while organisers estimated 800,000. Police numbers were also 70,000 that day. Nuñez said the deployment was intended to maintain order and prevent a repeat of the looting and vandalism seen on 17 October.

The minister warned that the protests pose a “very high risk” to public order. He said calls for violent gatherings had appeared on social media, attributing them to parts of the labour movement, radical far-left groups and some radicalised Yellow Vest websites. Nuñez said police would take a particularly firm line against possible violence.

The announcement follows earlier preparations to deploy 70,000 officers for protests after riots the previous week. More recently, Nuñez said he expected further difficulties at protests planned for Saturday 31 October, while local authorities were continuing to decide whether to maintain night-time curfews.