Making innocent protesters liable for damage would be bad for rule of law and play into far-right hands, say opponents

Emmanuel Macron has been accused by trade unions of trying to curb the fundamental French right to protest as the government fast-tracks a bill to make protesters pay for damage caused by vandalism at street demonstrations even if they did not directly cause it themselves.

The French president, who leaves office next spring, has faced more than a month of protests in which high-school students have blockaded schools demanding a response to teacher absences, repairs to decrepit buildings and changes to the university applications platform.

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© Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

© Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

© Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

While the police kept a lid on vandalism, the huge number of protesters and France’s fraught politics suggest unrest could grow.

© Manu Brabo/Getty Images

After largely peaceful marches on Saturday, clashes broke out in the evening. But a large-scale police presence, 1,000 arrests and the rerouting of protest routes kept a lid on wholesale vandalism.

© Philippe Lopez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images