French courts did not accept the drones posed a serious attack on a fundamental freedom when the use of police surveillance drones was challenged by several NGOs who said they are illegal and a violation of privacy.
Challenges in Paris and Bordeaux were rejected hours before protests kicked off on Monday, with administrative courts in both cities ruling the airborne cameras would give police the wider overview of marches necessary to maintain public order.
Thousands of people brought umbrellas with them for May Day protest in Lyon in order to prevent hundreds of police drones, which were ordered to fly by Macron, identifying them as individuals.
FRANCE – Lyon May Day Protests.
— Bernie's Tweets (@BernieSpofforth) May 1, 2023
In response to the hundreds of police drones that Macron ordered to fly, the people bought black umbrellas to cover themselves, so they can’t be identified as individuals.
Today they are one people!
pic.twitter.com/YKObVXeA4n
However, NGOs won a partial victory in Normandy when the judge scaled back the conditions of the use of drones.
The “large perimeter” in which the drones were to be flown, and the approval of their use until eight hours after the march had ended, exceeded “in time and space” the need to ensure the protest’s security, the judge said.
While conceding the drones were likely to improve security at the demonstration, the judge said the prefect’s order carried “a serious and manifestly illegal infringement of the freedom to come and go and the right to privacy.”
May Day marches turning into protests in France
International Workers’ Day is celebrated among protests of Macron’s pension reforms in France, which raised state pension age from 62 to 64.
Many say that “it’s not about the retirement age, it’s about democracy.”
May Day protests in Lyon started outwith fires.
Meanwhile, firefighters led the May Day march with torches in Paris.
It is also alleged that protesters clashed with the police in Paris, with police deploying teargas to disperse the crowd.
More than 60 people have been arrested and one police officer injured by Molotov cocktail in the clashes during the May Day protests, according to Sky News.
