Police, demonstrators clash over green activist’s death

Several riot police and protesters have been injured in the western France after a demonstration against an activist’s death descended into violent protests in Nantes and Toulouse.

Officers fired rubber bullets and tear gas as demonstrators hurled bottles of acid and stones, injuring at least five protesters and three police officers.

Police made 21 arrests in Nantes, while in the southwestern city of Toulouse, where clashes also erupted, 13 people were detained.

The clashes erupted after the death of 21-year-old environmental activist Rémi Fraisse was killed apparently by a police grenade.

Fraisse died amid clashes with police against a controversial dam project in neighbouring Toulouse. His death sparked a furious political row, with the Greens accusing the Socialist government of failing to take it seriously.

The local prosecutor said the protester died of wounds caused by an “explosion”.

“The medical examiner, on the basis of the lesions to the body that were found, can neither confirm nor deny that the origin of the wound came from an explosive device thrown from the zone where the police officers were taking refuge,” police said.

The device apparently landed between the backpack he was wearing and his clothes. It became caught and then exploded.

Used by police to disperse riots, the grenades were not previously thought capable of causing death.

Fraisse's death was the first during a protest in mainland France since 1986.

The protester’s death has now triggered protests in Nantes and Toulouse, with residents claiming that only a small minority are rioting.

Protests were also held in other French cities including Lille, Bordeaux and Avignon.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls condemned the violence, calling it an "insult to the memory" of Fraisse, while Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve slammed the "unacceptable outburst".