15 December 2018•Update: 16 December 2018
By Yusuf Ozcan and Hasan Esen
PARIS
French police on Saturday arrested 95 Yellow Vest protesters in the capital Paris, according to local media reports.
Yellow Vest protests, which started as a reaction to fuel tax hikes and evolved into an uprising against French President Emmanuel Macron, continues on Saturday despite the government’s call to halt it.
Earlier, local state broadcaster France info reported that at least 25 people were arrested in Paris on Saturday ahead of the planned protests.
The number of people arrested last week during same hours was over 500.
On Thursday, Maxime Nicolle, one of the prominent figures of the Yellow Vest movement, said they will hold protests despite the government's calls to stop after Strasbourg shooting.
The protesters gathered on the Champs-Elysees and the Opera Square once again in the fifth weekends of the demonstrations.
Sometimes tension escalates between the police and protesters, who are less in number compared to past weeks.
One protester got his eye injured, when a teargas capsule hit him, according to some protesters, and he was referred to a hospital.
The French police used teargas to disperse the crowd, who spread to streets near the Champs-Elysees.
Stores and restaurants on the iconic street are closed, with many metro lines are out of service due to the protests.
Police said that around 16,000 people have attended protests across the country so far, and streets and roads were blocked 199 times.
A total of 89,000 police officers are on duty in the country, 8,000 of which are in Paris together with 14 armored vehicles.
Protests in Belgium, Netherlands
Meanwhile, a group of Yellow Vest protesters also gathered in Belgium’s capital city of Brussels, and called on Prime Minister Charles Michel to resign.
Around 70 protesters marched through the square in front of the European Parliament, amid tight security measures.
According to security sources, around 50 Yellow Vest protesters were held in the morning in Brussels.
Also in the Netherlands, Yellow Vest protesters took to the streets in 16 cities, including the capital Amsterdam, the Hague and Rotterdam, upon calls made on social media by far-right groups.
They protested against the government's policies on retirement age, costly health and education services and migration issue.
Since Nov. 17, thousands of protesters wearing bright yellow vests -- dubbed the Yellow Vests -- have been gathering in major French cities, including the capital Paris, to protest Macron's controversial fuel tax hikes and the deteriorating economic situation.
The demonstrators, who generally live in rural areas due to high rents in the cities, have called on Macron to cut fuel taxes and ease their economic difficulties.
During demonstrations, at least four people have been killed and more than a thousand others wounded.
President Macron said that taxes on overtime pay would be abolished as of next year and announced social security tax cuts for pensioners earning less than €2,000.
However, the protesters have found President Macron's statement "insufficient."
