PARIS, May 7 — Police arrested 127 people while 11 people were injured, including one seriously, during incidents in the French capital after Paris Saint-Germain reached the Champions League final, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Thursday.
Nunez said 23 officers also suffered minor injuries in violence that stemmed from wild celebrations following PSG’s 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in Germany that sealed a 6-5 aggregate victory in the semi-final.
“One hundred and twenty-seven people were arrested in the Paris area, including 107 in Paris,” Nunez told CNews television channel and Europe 1 radio station.
“Eleven people were injured, including one seriously with a firework,” he added, while condemning the incidents.
The public prosecutor’s office told AFP that the arrests were for the “participation in a congregation aimed at committing acts of violence, for setting off fireworks, for violence and for causing damage by fire”.
Several vehicles were damaged in the unrest.
Nunez warned that police would act “just as forcefully” against such incidents on May 30, when PSG will play Arsenal in the Champions League final in Budapest, seeking to win Europe’s top club competition for the second year in a row.
“We won’t tolerate unrest,” he said.
He also criticised Paris’s new mayor Emmanuel Gregoire for having “unilaterally” announced that there would be a fan zone in the capital on May 30.
“Normally we talk about that a bit with the police prefect beforehand, which didn’t happen,” he said. — AFP
