The new law, which is being prepared by the French government, will significantly toughen the punishment for participants of riots during demonstrations up to personal liability. This was stated on Monday by Prime Minister Eduard Philippe on the TV channel TF1.

“We need to preserve freedom of expression in France and not punish those who want to peacefully use this right. The government therefore advocates that our law has been amended, was adopted by the new, which do not fulfill the obligations about applying to the demonstrations, who are involved in the protests and come to them in hoods and covered faces, — said the Prime Minister. – It is necessary to increase their civil liability. Up to the point that will have to pay the rioters, not taxpayers.”

The Prime Minister also reminded that the authorities had already taken measures against those football fans “who came to the stadiums solely for the sake of provocations and clashes.” “Those of them who were identified were forbidden to take part in the matches,” Filip said. “And I believe that now, for the sake of protecting the right to manifesto, so that those who disagree with the government’s measures can conduct them peacefully on the streets, it is necessary to develop our right and complicate the legislative instruments in our right,” the Prime Minister said, while the program leader tried to clarify with him the possibility of creating a list of demonstrators who will be banned from appearing at public events in case of detention during clashes with the police or participation in pogroms.

The Prime Minister added that the country’s authorities have issued convictions against about 1 thousand participants of the riots.

“A total of 5.5 thousand people were detained, 1 thousand of them were sentenced,” the head of government said.

At the end of December last year, the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche reported that the insurance companies plan to pay the merchants, whose institutions have suffered at the hands of vandals, € 150-200 thousand compensation. In turn, the National Council of shopping centers reported on December 17 that since the beginning of the protests, sales of large commercial enterprises fell by $ 2 billion euros. Against the background of the demonstrations, the Bank of France lowered the forecast of GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2018 to 0.2% from 0.4%.