We'll keep enforcing lockdown, says French minister amid unrest

French police will not shy away from enforcing a coronavirus lockdown in the high-rise Paris suburbs where unrest has erupted the past four nights, the interior minister said, as a motorcyclist whose run-in with officers sparked riots appealed for calm.

Stringent restrictions on public movement ordered by President Emmanuel Macron to tackle the epidemic have exacerbated deep-seated social tensions in the deprived, low-income neighbourhoods that ring the capital.

Violence first flared on Saturday after the rider hurtled into the open door of an unmarked police car and required surgery to his leg. Some local residents alleged that officers deliberately opened the door into his path, and police have said an investigation is under way.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said those who flouted the lockdown were putting themselves at risk and promised to punish those who attacked the police.

“We will make sure the lockdown is respected everywhere,” Castaner said at a senate hearing on Wednesday.

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