France Seeks to Extend State of Emergency Despite Protests

Despite widespread protests across the country in recent days, the French government confirmed on Wednesday that it would seek a three-month extension of the state of emergency it declared after the attacks in and around Paris that left 130 people dead in November.

 

The extension is one of several pieces of legislation that the government has been pushing for since the attacks, including a bill that would increase the powers of the police and antiterrorism investigators, as well as a much-debated proposal to strip the citizenship of people convicted of terrorism. The citizenship proposal recently prompted the French justice minister to quit.

 

President François Hollande declared the state of emergency a day after the coordinated attacks on Nov. 13, which were carried out by teams of Islamic State gunmen. The French Parliament voted several days later to extend it for a three-month period that expires on Feb. 26. Lawmakers are expected to approve the new extension this month.

 

Read More: France Seeks to Extend State of Emergency Despite Protests – The New York Times