They were nearly 300 people to have gathered this Saturday afternoon in Paris, to denounce
the compulsory wearing of a mask in the street, according to an AFP journalist present at the demonstration.
The demonstrators gathered in the peace, Place de la Nation, to protest against the government, accusing it of “manipulating people with fear” and to impose the mask in several large cities “Without any scientific justification”.
Gathering #antimasques in Paris place de la Nation pic.twitter.com/mq4dgalF53
– Estelle Farge (@Estelle_Farge) August 29, 2020
“No medical justification” for anti-masks
It’s about one of the first mobilizations of anti-mask activists in France where they struggle to come out of the shadows, unlike other countries such as Germany where
an “anticorona” demonstration gathered some 18,000 people in Berlin on Saturday. In Paris, the demonstrators were quickly surrounded by dozens of police, some of whom issued tickets of 135 euros for not wearing a mask.
Several fines of 135 € are drawn up for “non-wearing of #masque »During the demonstration #antimasques.
The offenders have since put on their masks #COVID-19 #MasksObligatory pic.twitter.com/ZdyKsUFI9r– Yahoo News (@YahooActuFR) August 29, 2020
“People don’t want the mask, they only wear it because they are afraid of getting a fine,” one of the protesters said over the microphone to applause. Sophie, a Parisian close to fifty, came to demonstrate for “the freedom to choose”. “I am simply a citizen angry at the liberticidal measures which have no medical justification,” she said. “Why is there this obligation, when despite the increase in cases of contamination, are there no more people in the hospital? », She adds.
” Freedom ! »Chant about 200 #antimasque gathered in Paris for the first mobilization of this kind in France. They denounce an attack on individual freedoms #MasksObligatory #COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/2ey1le0SWd
– Yahoo News (@YahooActuFR) August 29, 2020
The cost of masks criticized by the yellow vests
Beside her, demonstrators hold up placards proclaiming “Stop lies and corruption” or “The deep state will not pass”. “There is a lie somewhere because at the beginning he said that you should not put on a mask. We want to know why this inconsistency, ”said Saïd, 53, from Bagneux (Hauts-de-Seine).
“There is no scientific evidence of the usefulness of the mask death on the outside. The Covid-19 is not dangerous enough, it mainly kills people over the age of 60, ”says Anaïs, 26, a sociology student. Among the demonstrators are several “yellow vests” who expressed their solidarity and in particular criticized the fact that the mask is not free. “This is one more justification for not imposing it and make the people pay One of them explained.
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