France: Yellow Vest protests complete 6 months

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - Yellow Vest protests in France against the policies of President Emmanuel Macron are now in their sixth month.

The demonstrations, which first started as a reaction to rising fuel prices, transformed into anti-government protests.

More than 60,000 people took to the streets in the latest demonstrations on April, according to Yellow Vest protesters as the French Interior Ministry put the figure at 24,000.

The general inspectors' office of the national police has so far opened an investigation into 256 cases of alleged police violence against the protesters.

The office said 95 reporters, 40 high school students, 30 health workers were injured by the police.

Yellow Vest protests have been ongoing since Nov. 17, 2018.

According to the latest official figures, 11 people have died so far and over 4,200 were injured. More than 12,100 people have been arrested and nearly 2,000 people sentenced to prison.

According to French Mediapart website, 11 people were killed, five had their hands ripped due to pepper spray, and 23 lost their eyesight.

*Writing by Burak Bir