Scooters burnt down near the Gare de Lyon in Paris, on the sidelines of the concert by the Congolese singer Fally Ipupa. – Vincent Loison / SIPA
The Paris prosecutor’s office told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that “51 police custody were underway on Saturday morning” following demonstrations and fires intervened Friday Lyon station at
Paris, on the sidelines of the concert of the Congolese star Fally Ipupa.
Congolese rumba singer accused of being close to the ruling power in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), had not happened in France for years, for fear of overflows. Before the start of his concert at the AccorHotels Arena, multiple incidents broke out early Friday evening around the station and the neighborhood near Bercy. Several scooters and garbage cans were set on fire, producing thick swirls of smoke in the area. The underground part of the station was evacuated as a precaution and the traffic of metros and RER was disrupted. Around 6:30 p.m., the fires were brought under control by the firefighters and about thirty vehicles, especially two-wheelers, fully charred, had noted.
The police headquarters had placed the concert under close surveillance, banning the multiple demonstrations planned by the opponents. But for several days, the battle of opinions was raging on Twitter around the arrival of the singer. The first arrests of demonstrators defying the ban began at midday. At 11:00 p.m., 71 people had been arrested, according to the prefecture, which denounced the “scandalous behavior” of certain demonstrators who hampered the action of the firefighters. The “arsonist” was among those arrested, said a police source.
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