France suspends stun grenade use after student loses hand

France has suspended the use of stun grenades during student protests after a 15-year-old boy lost his hand in an incident involving police during demonstrations in the northern city of Lens.

As reported by the BBC on Wednesday, the Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez ordered the suspension pending clarification of what happened, amid conflicting accounts from authorities and protesters.

The incident occurred on Monday near Auguste Béhal High School in Lens, as demonstrations over school conditions continued across the country.

Authorities said the teenager picked up an anti-encirclement grenade that had been deployed by police before it exploded. Students, however, alleged that the boy was directly hit by a grenade fired by an officer

According to the local prefecture, police had been confronted by between 200 and 250 students who were throwing stones and fireworks.

Nuñez said the police watchdog, IGPN, had opened 18 investigations into whether officers used proportionate force during the demonstrations.

There is a police action that raises questions for all of us within the Ministry of the Interior; it’s what happened in Lens,” Nuñez told French radio RTL.

He said the use of stun grenades would remain suspended until the circumstances surrounding the incident had been established.

The grenades are classified as non-lethal weapons but release rubber projectiles when they detonate.

The Lens incident has intensified concerns over police tactics during the student demonstrations, which have spread from high school pupils to university students, parents and trade unions.

More than 500 schools were fully or partially closed on Wednesday following Tuesday’s nationwide protests. The Interior Ministry said 488 people were arrested and 43 security officers injured during the demonstrations.

Concerns over police conduct had already grown following another incident last week in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, north-west of Paris, where a 14-year-old boy was hit in the face by a tear-gas grenade.

His lawyer said the teenager lost several teeth and suffered a fractured jaw. A police officer has been charged in connection with the incident.

Prosecutors also opened an attempted-murder investigation on Wednesday after a 17-year-old protester alleged that a police officer held his head underwater while trying to arrest him near a river in Belfort.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has condemned violence during the protests, saying 215 students, 85 school staff and 715 police officers had been injured since the demonstrations began in mid-September.

More than 6,500 people have been stopped or arrested during the unrest, according to the Interior Ministry.

President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting with Lecornu and other senior ministers on Tuesday as the government sought to find a way out of the escalating crisis.

Government figures estimated that more than 250,000 people participated in Tuesday’s demonstrations, while student unions put the turnout at around 450,000.

Further protests are planned for Thursday in Paris and other French cities.