France has suspended the use of stun grenades during student protests after a 15-year-old boy lost his hand in an incident involving police in the northern city of Lens.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez ordered the temporary suspension while authorities investigate what happened during Monday’s confrontation near Auguste Béhal High School. The circumstances remain disputed. French authorities said the teenager picked up a grenade after it was deployed, causing it to explode. Students, however, alleged that police fired the device directly at him.
Nuñez said the incident raised serious questions about whether police used proportionate force. He confirmed that the suspension would remain in place until investigators establish the facts.
“There is a police action that raises questions for all of us within the Ministry of the Interior; it’s what happened in Lens,” Nuñez told RTL radio.
The French police watchdog, IGPN, has opened 18 investigations into police conduct during the demonstrations. The protests have spread across France, with high school students joined by university students, parents and trade unions demanding better conditions in schools.
More than 500 schools were fully or partially closed on Wednesday. Education Minister Édouard Geffray told the National Assembly that 24 schools had been set on fire or damaged so severely that they would remain closed for several weeks, affecting about 30,000 students.
Hundreds of thousands of people took part in demonstrations on Tuesday. Police used tear gas and water cannon in some cities, while the Interior Ministry said 488 people were arrested and 43 security personnel were injured. Authorities in Lens said police had been confronted by between 200 and 250 students who threw stones and fireworks during the unrest.
The weapon at the centre of the controversy is an anti-encirclement grenade, described by authorities as a non-lethal device designed to disperse crowds. The grenade can release rubber projectiles when it detonates.
The incident has intensified concerns from several groups that French police are using excessive force against young protesters.
