Paris (France) (AFP) – The lawyers of at least 18 people injured during social mobilizations since mid-September announced on Friday their intention to take the matter to the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) against the Minister of the Interior for the use of weapons that he “knows are mutilating”.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 16:34

Until now "we have used serious qualifications (...), we think today that it is imperative to target the one who is at the origin of the mutilations and massive damage, namely the Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez (...) for the orders he gave for the use of these weapons which he knows are mutilating, which he knows are weapons of war, which he knows should not be used in the maintenance of order", declared Me Arié Alimi during a press conference in Paris.

He indicated that this collective complaint would be presented within “three weeks”.

“All cases are not at the same level of progress,” said Me Elsa Marcel, who notably defends a teenager seriously injured in the jaw in front of a high school in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône (Val-d'Oise) by a tense shot from a tear gas grenade launcher.

For the moment, around ten of their clients have given their consent to sign this collective complaint before the CJR, the only court capable of judging members of the government for acts committed in the exercise of their functions, their advisers clarified on Friday.

The AFP has counted more than twenty seriously injured people as part of the social movement since mid-September for purchasing power and better study conditions in high schools and universities.

“Broken Faces”

The results were particularly "appalling", according to Me Alimi, during the mobilization of October 17, marked by looting and violence in several cities on the sidelines of the demonstrations.

It was even a "hecatomb" at Place de la République in Paris where "we can think" that the use of tear gas in particular was "like in Sainte-Soline, or even much more", he added in reference to a demonstration in March 2023 against megabasins in Deux-Sèvres.

Among those injured since mid-September, the lawyer mentioned a freelance photographer who was "on the verge of death" after a "grenade severed his femoral artery" or a young engineer's "foot" split in two by a grenade shrapnel.

In Strasbourg, Caen Mulhouse, Marseille, a carpenter, a nursing student and even a plasterer were also seriously affected, his colleagues described.

“They are the broken faces of modern times”, the “level of after-effects is very high”, commented Me Marcel.

With "the use of tools of war (...), we have the impression that minors are being treated as enemies", even though they are "high school students who sometimes just ask" in particular for "drinking water" in their establishment, explained Me Mohamed Jaite.

Under fire from criticism, Laurent Nuñez assures that the interventions of the police since the start of the high school movement have been carried out in "the greatest proportionality" and regularly repeats that he does not renounce "any intermediate means" such as grenades and tear gas.

"Complicated"

The qualifications "to obtain the prosecution of Laurent Nuñez before" the CJR - "because the crimes that we believe he committed by complicity are multiple" - could include "voluntary violence leading to mutilations" or "complicity by instigation", added Me Alimi.

But "taking into account all the complaints that have been filed, the duration of the judicial treatment (...) sometimes eight to ten years, we must do something to prevent there being new mutilations, and in particular children", he added.

Echoing the lawyers present, Emmanuelle Jourdan-Chartier, vice-president of the Human Rights League, called for “another maintenance of order” and the ban on “non-discriminatory weapons of war” used by the police, “weapons that have been killing people for a long time”.

Two other complaints were filed by lawyer Yassine Bouzrou, one for a young person who lost a hand on October 17 in Saint-Etienne, the second for a 20-year-old demonstrator who had two fingers torn off in Toulouse on October 24.

According to a count established as of October 30, the General Inspectorate of the National Police received 105 investigations, including 52 in the context of the high school movement, 48 for violence on October 17 and 18, and five for events that occurred on October 24, according to a source close to the matter.

© 2026 AFP

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