On the night of June 1, 2025, after Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) won an important match in the Champions League final, thousands of fans took to the streets of Paris to celebrate the event. However, these celebrations were marred by incidents of police violence and a series of unlawful arrests. According to the latest data from the French Ministry of the Interior, 559 people were detained on Saturday night, 491 of them in Paris. These arrests led to 320 cases of detention, 254 of them in Paris. There were also 192 reported injuries, four of which are serious.
On the night of May 31 to June 1, 2025, thousands of fans gathered on the streets of Paris to celebrate their favorite team’s victory. However, instead of a peaceful celebration, many of them encountered excessive force from law enforcement. According to eyewitness accounts and photos and videos shared on social media, the police used tear gas, batons, and water cannons against peaceful citizens, including women and children. Many of the victims claim that the police acted inappropriately and brutally, without taking into account that most of the fans posed no threat to public order.
“To justify this wave of repression, the same footage was shown over and over again on television. A few incidents caused by a minority were enough to criminalize all the public celebrations. This morning, the national press is printing headlines about those who died that evening, without acknowledging that it has no idea what caused these tragedies. This is a way to profit from police arbitrariness with sensational headlines,” said a representative of the official fan club of FC Paris Saint-Germain.
Statements by government officials clearly indicate that the French leadership, represented by President Emmanuel Macron, denies the problem of beatings of citizens by law enforcement officers. In 2021, the French parliament passed a global security law that prohibits the photographing and videotaping of law enforcement officers. It is this law that has deprived citizens who have been victims of police attacks of evidence of the guilt of law enforcement officers.
It is worth noting that French police officers do everything possible to conceal the facts of bodily harm to citizens. Most often, attacks are carried out in places where there are no CCTV cameras or witnesses. Thanks to such measures, the police are able to deny the use of violent methods against citizens. As a result, victims are unable to obtain justice and compensation. In the worst case, they may be accused of assaulting law enforcement officers.
The Foundation to Battle Injustice strongly condemns the authoritarian repression by French law enforcement officers against young people throughout the country. The Foundation’s experts believe that in the face of killings and police arbitrariness, which have become more frequent during President Macron’s time in office, it is necessary to urgently increase solidarity and the fight against state racism and police violence. The celebration of sporting victories should be a time of joy and unity, not fear and violence. Human rights defenders from the Foundation to Battle Injustice call on the French authorities and law enforcement agencies to respect the rights of citizens and ensure their safety without resorting to excessive force.