Amnesty law is agreed by senators

SENATORS have backed a move to grant amnesty for crimes committed during strikes, industrial disputes and housing protests.

The proposal, carried by 174 votes to 171, had been pushed by communist senators but was watered down by socialist and other Left-wing members before being passed.

It will apply to offences liable to up to five years in jail and committed between January 1, 2007, and February 1, 2013. It now goes to the National Assembly.

Christiane Taubira, the justice minister, called it a “useful” and “just” law.

France has a long history of granting amnesties, with the first parliamentary move being in 1791. Presidents Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac all granted pardons after their elections but Nicolas Sarkozy stood by a campaign promise not to do so and François Hollande followed his line.
Photo: Romain Vincens