France Suspends Stun Grenades After Teen Loses Hand During Student Protests

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 suspension pending clarification of the circumstances surrounding the incident, amid conflicting accounts from authorities and protesters.

The teenager was injured on Monday near Auguste Béhal High School in Lens as demonstrations over school conditions continued across France.

Authorities said the boy picked up an anti-encirclement grenade that had been deployed by police before it exploded. Student protesters, however, alleged that he was directly struck by a grenade fired by a police officer.

According to the local prefecture, officers had confronted between 200 and 250 students who were throwing stones and fireworks.

Nuñez said France’s police watchdog, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), had opened 18 investigations into the proportionality of police action during the demonstrations.

“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 French radio RTL.

He said the suspension of stun grenades would remain in place until the circumstances surrounding the incident were established.

The grenades, classified by French authorities as non-lethal weapons, can release rubber projectiles when they detonate.

The Lens incident has increased scrutiny of police tactics as the protests have expanded from high school students to university students, parents and trade unions.

More than 500 schools were fully or partially closed on Wednesday following nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday. The Interior Ministry said 488 people were arrested and 43 security officers injured during the protests.

Concerns over police conduct had already intensified following an incident in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, north-west of Paris, where a 14-year-old boy was struck in the face by a tear-gas grenade.

His lawyer said the teenager lost several teeth and suffered a fractured jaw. A police officer has been charged in connection with that incident.

Prosecutors also opened an attempted-murder investigation after a 17-year-old protester alleged that a police officer held his head underwater while attempting to arrest him near a river in Belfort.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has condemned violence during the protests, saying 215 students, 85 school staff and 715 police officers had been injured since the demonstrations began in mid-September.

The Interior Ministry said more than 6,500 people had been stopped or arrested during the unrest.

President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting with Lecornu and other senior ministers on Tuesday as the government sought to address the escalating crisis.

Government figures estimated that more than 250,000 people took part in Tuesday’s demonstrations, while student unions put the turnout at about 450,000.

Further protests are planned for Thursday in Paris and other French cities.