Thousands of opponents of the vaccine pass in France announce on social networks that they want to “roll on Paris” on Saturday as part of an action called “freedom convoys”, inspired by that of Canadian truckers.
• Read also: A “freedom convoy” to New Zealand
• Read also: Convoy of truckers: Protesters in Ottawa refuel in secret
• Read also: The “convoy for freedom” is making children around the world
In the Facebook and Telegram groups “Convoy France officiel”, each with around 23,000 members on Monday, according to an AFP count, these activists are trying to organize a large-scale national action for “respect for freedoms and fundamental rights “.
Six “convoys” of carpooling or individuals on board their own vehicles are announced on Wednesday, departing in particular from Bayonne, Nice (south), Strasbourg (east) or Cherbourg (west).
These demonstrators must rally Paris Friday evening, without any specific place of regrouping being mentioned. Some then call to join Brussels for a “European convergence” on Monday February 14.
Convoy France does not directly call for a regrouping or blocking action, insisted on Sunday in a video discussion Marisa, spokesperson for this new movement, which is emerging two months before the presidential election.
This initiative is taken seriously by the authorities,” a police source told AFP, announcing “vigilance devices”.
Monday morning, a first convoy of around thirty demonstrators who were trying to reach the capital in their vehicles was intercepted in the Paris region “calmly”, by the police, AFP learned.
On the forums consulted by AFP, a few messages mentioned possible actions, in particular on the Paris ring road.
But the majority of participants rather offered moments of conviviality through the distribution of meals or accommodation on the road.
In Canada, a protest movement initiated by truckers, for whom the vaccine is compulsory in order to cross the border with the United States, has paralyzed the capital Ottawa for more than a week. It spread to other protesters expressing general dissatisfaction.
In France, most of the participants are close to the mobilizations of “yellow vests” and want to find “a new way” to express their dissatisfaction, an organizer who requested anonymity told AFP.
The Yellow Vests, a social protest movement that shook Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term in 2018 and 2019, started with a rise in automobile fuel prices before turning into a protean protest, marked by several violent demonstrations.
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com