Shattered Jaws, Severed Hands: France's Crackdown on Student Protests Draws Outrage

Paris: A series of severe injuries suffered by French teenagers during nationwide school protests has intensified scrutiny of police tactics, after a tear gas grenade shattered a 14-year-old boy's jaw and teeth in an incident that has led to criminal charges against the officer involved.

The boy, identified only as Eden by Associated Press to protect his identity, was struck in the face by the grenade outside his school, according to his mother, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. She said her son sent her a video from the protest moments before the incident, and that when she called back, one of his classmates answered, screaming that he had been hit and was bleeding on the ground with his jaw and teeth broken. Following surgery, the boy can no longer speak and can only eat through a straw. The officer who fired the grenade was taken into custody a week later and charged with violent mutilation, an offence carrying up to 15 years in prison.

The incident follows a separate case in the town of Lens, where a 15-year-old lost a hand after picking up a police stun grenade. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced Wednesday that the model of grenade suspected in that case would no longer be used against high schoolers, while defending police conduct as proportionate in most instances and noting that officers have had to respond to rioting and vandalism during the unrest.

According to the Interior Ministry, police have made more than 6,600 arrests since the protests began snowballing last week, the vast majority involving people under 18, including 488 detentions during nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday. The officer in the Eden case is the first to face potential prosecution among 18 ongoing investigations into alleged police misconduct during the protests, which began in mid-September over demands for more school funding and additional teachers.