Paris riots spark criticism of ‘zero tolerance’ policy

FRENCH youths rioted in a Paris suburb for the fifth night running early yesterday, raising fresh questions about Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s “zero tolerance” policy toward the violence.

Eleven vehicles were burned out and a policeman slightly injured in the latest overnight disturbances in the north-eastern Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where passions were raised a day earlier when a tear gas grenade was fired into a mosque.

The violence began after two teenagers died last Thursday night when they were electrocuted in an electricity substation while apparently fleeing police.

“It was less serious than the previous nights,” said an official at the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture in Bobigny, which oversees Clichy-sous-Bois.

Twelve people were detained by police during the latest violence in Clichy, which is home to many immigrants and poor families who live in high-rise housing estates notorious for youth violence.

In the nearby neighbourhood of Montfermeil, two cars were destroyed and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a police garage.

Mr Sarkozy visited the area on Monday to defend his tough anti-crime policies and vowed to investigate the tear gas incident at the mosque after contradictory reports of what happened. He also promised to put more police on the streets.

But equal opportunities minister Azouz Begag said a stronger police presence was not the way to tackle the violence.

“It is by fighting the discriminations of which young people are victims that we will re-establish order, the order of equality. Not by bringing out more CRS [riot police],” Mr Begag told the newspaper Liberation.

Mr Sarkozy, who is employing a “zero tolerance” policy toward violence, launched a new crime offensive this month by ordering specially trained police to tackle 25 problem neighbourhoods in cities throughout France.

Mr Sarkozy made his name by cutting crime figures during a first stint as interior minister from 2002 to 2004. He returned to the post in May and has maintained a high profile ahead of an expected presidential bid in 2007.

Opposition Socialists say the disturbances on the Paris outskirts show Sarkozy’s tough policies are failing and argue that action is also needed on crime prevention, housing and education. They also say he has neglected the suburbs.