Nuñez told French radio RTL that he had requested the suspension until the facts of the Lens incident had been clarified, acknowledging conflicting accounts from protesters and officials. The boy’s hand was torn off after a so-called anti-encirclement grenade was fired in unclear circumstances near the Auguste Béhal high school.
The decision comes amid growing accusations of police brutality against minors. A 14-year-old student was hit in the face by a tear gas grenade at close range in Paris, losing several teeth, and a policeman was charged on Tuesday in connection with that incident.
Police watchdog IGPN has opened 18 investigations to determine whether officers acted proportionately during the demonstrations, which have spread from high school pupils to parents, university students and unions. The Interior Ministry said 6,100 people have been arrested since the protests began last month, the overwhelming majority minors. More than 1,800 people are being prosecuted, including 1,483 minors, the Justice Ministry said. At least 715 police officers and 215 teenagers have been injured in clashes, according to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s office.
Hundreds of thousands of people marched across France on Tuesday, with 488 arrests and 43 security forces injured, the interior ministry reported. More than 500 schools were fully or partially shut on Wednesday. Protests began in late September with students blocking high school entrances over complaints of dilapidated facilities, teacher shortages and demands for more education funding.
Rights groups, students and parents’ groups have accused authorities of using disproportionate force. The government says the protest movement has been hijacked by outsiders and has morphed into urban violence. Lecornu condemned the violence on Tuesday and rejected accusations of ordered police repression, while scheduling a public address on Wednesday evening about the protests and the country’s finances.