117 people arrested as grassroots protests erupt in France

Protesters bloc the traffic on on the place de la Concorde to protest fuel taxes in Paris, France. Photo / AP

One protester was killed and 227 other people were injured at roadblocks set up around villages, towns and cities across France, as citizens angry with rising fuel taxes rose up in a grassroots movement.

It poses a new challenge to beleaguered President Emmanuel Macron.

Demonstrators block the entrance to the motorway in Bayonne, southwestern France. French interior ministry officials say that one protester has been killed. Photo / AP

Police officers lobbed tear gas canisters at demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees in Paris as groups of "yellow jackets," as the protesters called themselves, tried to make their way to the Elysee Palace. Later, hundreds of protesters entered the bottom of the street where the palace is located before being pushed back by security forces with shields.

Protesters shout anti-government slogans on the Place de la Concorde in Paris to protest fuel taxes in France. Photo / AP

Police cleared out the huge traffic circle around the Arc de Triomphe, paralysed for hours by protesters.

French Interior Ministry officials counted nearly 283,000 protesters, mostly peaceful, throughout the day at more than 2000 sites, some setting bonfires or flying balloons.
However, some demonstrations turned violent. In Troyes, southeast of Paris, about 100 people invaded the prefecture, damaging the inside, Interior Ministry officials said. In Quimper, in Brittany, security forces used water cannon to disperse hostile protesters.

Protesters bloc the traffic on on the place de la Concorde to protest fuel taxes in Paris, France. Photo / AP

The protester who died, a 63-year-old woman, was killed when a driver caught in the blockade accelerated in a panic at Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near Chambery, in eastern France, according to Louis Laugier, the prefect in the Savoie region. A confrontation with protesters "got heated up for no reason" and the driver accelerated her minivan after "people started rattling her car," a protester who witnessed the incident told BFMTV. He said the woman told them she was taking her daughter to a doctor.

A total of 117 people were arrested with 73 of them held for questioning.

Protesters shout block the traffic on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Photo / AP

The protesters had pledged to target tollbooths, roundabouts and other strategic traffic sites. They called themselves "yellow jackets" because most were wearing the fluorescent yellow vests that must be kept in vehicles of all French drivers in case of car troubles.

The daughter of the woman killed called for calm as she protested in Cavaillon, in southern France. "I really want people not to let themselves become submerged by anger," Alexandrine Mazet told RTL radio. "The yellow jackets must understand this is a peaceful movement."

Demonstrators, wearing yellow jackets, block a roundabout in Molsheim, eastern France in protest of fuel tax increases. Photo / AP

The grassroots nature of the protests made it a political hot potato for Macron's Government.

"They have sent a message," Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said. "It is heard."
The price of petrol and diesel is currently NZ$2.42 a litre in France. In January the price of diesel is set to go up by 10c a litre, and petrol by 4c. Diesel vehicle owners, still a majority in France, feel betrayed after decades of the state encouraging diesel engines.

Protesters block the Place de la Bastille to protest fuel taxes in Paris, France yesterday. Photo / AP

The President held a crisis meeting to find ways of softening the impact on the poor and came up with a raft of sweeteners worth around €500 million. These include more financial incentives to exchange old cars for cleaner ones as well as the number of French entitled to "energy cheques".

- additional reporting AP