• Authorities aiming to prevent further disorder and destruction of property.
• Interior Minister declares ban on demonstrations linked to recent riots.
• Administrative court upholds ban despite protest organizers’ appeal.

A Paris court barred a protest against police violence in the city on Saturday, as tensions remained high following riots earlier this month over the police shooting of a teenager.

Authorities have attempted to limit protests in order to avoid further disorder following a week of riots that resulted in huge destruction of public and private property.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin declared a ban on any demonstration “directly linked to the riots” that followed the shooting of 17-year-old Nahel during a traffic check.

A picture of a police officer shooting the teen at point-blank range went viral, reigniting old emotions in the country about police brutality and racism. On Saturday, an administrative court in Paris maintained the ban, despite protest organisers’ last-ditch attempt to appeal the ruling.

“Given the very recent nature of the serious riots,” a shortage of police availability, and the likelihood of disturbances, the judges determined that the only option was to prohibit the protest.

According to Lucie Simon, a lawyer for the demonstration organisers, which include a group against police violence and other organisations, authorities are “impeding all channels of democratic expression of perfectly legitimate demands.”

Last Saturday, 2,000 people disobeyed a similar order to attend a memorial event in central Paris for a young black man who died in police custody in 2016, as protests against police brutality erupted across the country.

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