Between 200 and 300 people gathered in peace on Saturday in Paris to denounce the compulsory wearing of masks with cries of “Freedom, freedom!”, One of the first demonstrations of this type in France, noted an AFP journalist.
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Gathered at Place de la Nation, in eastern Paris, they notably accused the government of “manipulating people through fear” and of imposing the mask in several large cities “without any scientific justification.”
It was one of the first mobilizations of anti-mask activists in France, where they are struggling to come out of the shadows, unlike other countries such as Germany where an “anticorona” demonstration brought together some 18,000 people on Saturday. Berlin.
In Paris, the demonstrators were quickly surrounded by dozens of police, some of whom issued tickets of 135 euros for not wearing a mask.
“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 multiplication of cases of contamination, there are no longer many people in the hospital?” She adds.
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 shouldn’t put on a mask. We want to know why this inconsistency, ”said Saïd, 53, from Bagneux, in the Paris suburbs.
“There is no scientific evidence for the usefulness of wearing a mask outdoors. COVID-19 is not dangerous enough, it mainly kills people over the age of 60, ”says Anaïs, 26, a sociology student.
Among the demonstrators were 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 taxing it and making the people pay,” one of them explained.