French jail hooligans, prepare for more
Courts in France have been handing out prison sentences to those caught acting violently in the aftermath of their country’s victory over Portugal in the World Cup semi-finals while preparing for more trouble on Sunday.
A 19 year old man received a four month prison sentence for throwing a bottle at police immediately after the match, dismissing his claims of police brutality.
Meanwhile, three people from Marseille were also handed custodial sentences after the night of violence.
The trio were part of a group of 15 who were arrested for throwing missiles at police, two of the them were classed as repeat offenders and given three month sentences while the third was handed a 15 day sentence.
Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s Interior Minister, has told reporters an extra 4,000 riot police will patrol Paris in an attempt to stop the violence, which plagued the city after their semi-final victory, from reoccurring.
Sarkozy denounced the “extremely violent behaviour” and “scenes of unacceptable violence” that left five people dead, 45 police officers injured and saw 350 arrests, 190 of them in Paris.
“We are doing all we can to ensure the party goes as well as possible,” he added.
“We need to separate the people who are celebrating from those who come just to smash things up.”