The doors of a police station and the Couvent des Jacobins in Rennes were set on fire on Friday evening on the sidelines of a demonstration against the pension reform. An investigation was opened for “degradation by dangerous means and association of criminals”.
The Rennes prosecutor’s office opened an investigation after the fire on Friday at the door of a police station and that of a convention center in the center of Rennes, the Rennes prosecutor’s office announced to BFMTV. The facts took place during a demonstration against the decision of the Constitutional Council which validated most of the pension reform.
The investigation was opened for “degradation by dangerous means and association of criminals”. The penalty is ten years in prison.
Flames quickly extinguished
The empty police station was set on fire using, among other things, burning garbage cans. The flames were extinguished after a few minutes after the intervention of a police water cannon.
A few minutes later, shortly before 10 p.m., the demonstrators set fire to the door of the Couvent des Jacobins, a former religious building converted into a congress center on Place Sainte-Anne, in the city center. The start of the fire was also quickly brought under control with the intervention of the water cannon.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, quickly denounced “degradations and attacks” “unacceptable” and committed “by thugs determined to fight it out”.
Another demonstration on Saturday
Unrelated to these facts, three people were placed in police custody: one for violence against a person holding public authority, the other two for destruction by dangerous means, in this case fires in garbage cans, according to the parquet.
“I brought together the competent deputies and services in the crisis cell”, tweeted the mayor of Rennes Nathalie Appéré, denouncing “many damage in the city center” this Friday evening.
“We stand with the residents, traders and institutions who suffer these abuses,” she added.
A new demonstration against the pension reform is planned for Saturday afternoon in the Breton capital.
