French Minister: 742 Individuals Face Firm Prison Sentences After Riot Convictions

The riots that rocked France earlier this month saw youths in several different cities commit acts of violence against police as well as set fire to various buildings and loot many shops around the country. The damage caused by the rioters in their several days of violence was estimated by insurers to total at least €650 Million, more than three times the amount totalled for the three-week-long riots in Paris’ suburbs in 2005.  Thousands were arrested by French authorities during the rioting, which was sparked by the fatal shooting of a teenager named Nahel by a French police officer in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.  This week, French Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti announced that as of July 19th, there had been a total of 1,278 judgements on rioters and that 95% of them had been convicted of crimes, a report from the newspaper Ouest France notes.  Of the 1,056 rioters sentenced to some form of imprisonment, 742 were sentenced to actual prison time while others will likely have received suspended sentences. Minister Dupond-Moretti announced that the average sentence was around 8.2 months in prison and so far 600 people were already behind bars serving their sentences.  Dupond-Moretti added that
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