France says more than 2,500 people taken into custody after October 17 unrest; prosecutors say most were adults

More than 2,500 people were taken into police custody in France after the October 17 protests, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday, according to AFP in a report carried by Dawn. Sixty-seven had been jailed and dozens of criminal cases opened. Prosecutors' early breakdowns show most of those detained after Saturday were adults, a reversal from the school protests of late September and early October, when most of those arrested were minors.

How the national count grew

The figures rose through the weekend and were given by different ministries:

• Saturday evening: about 1,200 arrests were announced by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, before Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez gave about 1,800 on X, franceinfo reports.
• Sunday: at least 1,800 arrests nationwide, AP reported via CBS News.
• Monday: the Interior Ministry gave nearly 2,400 arrests, NBC News and Al Jazeera report. Darmanin said more than 2,330 people had been placed in custody over the weekend, 70 percent of them adults, according to Al Jazeera, and later gave 2,513 (AFP).

Arrest and custody are different counts in France: not everyone arrested is placed in garde à vue, which is why ministry figures differ.

Paris: 557 in custody, 77 percent adults

Paris police said 855 people were arrested in the capital region, AP reported. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said 557 were placed in custody, of whom 433, or 77 percent, were adults, according to franceinfo. Franceinfo lists the main suspected offences as property crimes (219 cases), taking part in a group formed to commit violence (about 100) and violence against people holding public authority (49). More than 200 of the 557 cases were handled in the neighbouring departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, or by the rail police.

Beccuau said on TF1 that it was very hard to draw conclusions about who had been detained, that a very high proportion were little known to police, and that many were using their right to silence, Anadolu Agency reports. Anadolu says she was cautious about the government's attribution of the violence to the "ultra-left". Paris police chief Patrice Faure set up a special investigation unit to go through CCTV, shop cameras and social media footage.

Nice: ages and first court results

The Nice prosecutor's office recorded 114 arrests, 56 minors and 58 adults, according to the local outlet Nice Mag. Most minors were 14 to 17; two were 12. Of the adults, 40 were aged 18 to 20, and the oldest was 49. The prosecutor said half the adults prosecuted had no previous record with the courts, as did the great majority of the minors. Charges include taking part in a group to commit violence, remaining in a gathering after a dispersal order, covering the face at a disorderly protest, and aggravated theft. By Sunday evening four adults had been sentenced to prison in fast-track hearings.

Before October 17

In the school protest phase, the Justice Ministry reported more than 5,060 arrests by early October, 87 percent involving minors, Euronews reported on October 5. On October 6 the ministry said more than 1,800 people would be prosecuted, 1,483 of them minors, according to Al Jazeera.

Conditions and next steps

Lawyers told franceinfo that Paris police stations were overcrowded, describing cells without enough mattresses or food; one, Alexis Baudelin of Legal Team Paris, predicted most custody cases would end without prosecution. Darmanin said prosecutors would use facial recognition on social media footage to identify suspects, AFP reports.