Freedom Convoy: Paris protest banned by police ahead of arrival

 Paris has banned so-called Freedom Convoy protests planned for Friday, as lorry drivers head to the city.

Canada's capital city Ottawa has been paralysed for days by truckers objecting to Covid-19 measures there.

Convoys from towns and cities around France have started making their way to Paris to copy that protest.

Police have banned the demonstrations, reminding people that interfering with the roads can carry a two-year prison sentence or a €4,500 (£3,800) fine.

Ottawa has been put into a state of emergency over its protests, which saw truckers blockade the streets to protest against rules requiring vaccination to cross the US-Canada border. The group has been swelled by some far-right groups over the past two weeks, and there have been two dozen arrests and dozens more criminal cases opened.

In France, protesters are opposed to the vaccination pass required to enter restaurants, bars and public spaces, rather than any border issues.

But the risk of similar disturbances to public order in Paris was one reason for banning the protests there, police said. The ban runs from Friday to Monday.  

Motorways leading into Paris will have extra police patrolling them. Drivers blocking the free flow of traffic could have their driving licence suspended or penalty points added to their licence on top of the threat of prison and large fines.

The French protesters are organising online and appear to come from various political and ideological backgrounds. That makes it difficult to establish how many vehicles will make the real-world journey to Paris on Friday.

But some online groups have tens of thousands of members, and French newspaper Le Monde reports that several convoys have already left cities such as Nice, Bayonne and Perpignan.

Some of the groups plan to continue on to Brussels - headquarters of the EU executive - on Monday to join up with a Europe-wide demonstration.

Officials say the Covid pass restrictions prompting the French protests could be removed in the next two months - before France's presidential election in April.  

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