AFP, published on Sunday March 01, 2020 at 22h49
At least four people will be judged for the demonstrations and incidents that took place on Friday Gare de Lyon in Paris on the sidelines of the concert by the Congolese star Fally Ipupa, AFP learned on Sunday from the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The Congolese rumba singer, accused by diaspora opponents of being close to the government in power in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), had not performed in France for years, for fear of excesses.
Before the start of his concert on Friday at the AccorHotels Arena, multiple incidents broke out in the early evening around the station and the neighborhood near Bercy.
The prefecture of police had however placed the evening under high surveillance, by prohibiting the multiple demonstrations planned by the opponents.
Thirty vehicles, mainly scooters, as well as garbage cans, had been burned, giving off thick swirls of smoke in the area. Invaded by smoke, the underground part of the station had been evacuated as a precaution and the traffic of metros and RER disrupted.
At least 71 people were arrested during the evening, which resulted in 52 police custody (and not 51 as initially indicated by the Paris prosecutor’s office).
At the end of these police custody, at least four people will be tried, either very soon in immediate appearance, or later via a summons to court, said the prosecution.
A preliminary investigation was opened after one of the police custody.
Ten alternatives to prosecution were pronounced, including several reminders of the law, and 37 police custody resulted in a classification without result.
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