Hundreds put on immediate trial for ransacking city centres across France

In the aftermath of violent riots across France over the weekend, the first court filings have started to paint a picture of the suspects. Unlike student demonstrators, the majority of those apprehended are adults. In the coastal city of Nice, for instance, an 18-year-old admitted to stealing shoes, and his criminal record already included three infractions. Another example is a 28-year-old man who has admitted to stealing clothes. He had previously been convicted of theft and domestic violence. While their trials have been postponed, the pair have been placed in custody. A tough measure the public prosecutor's office is standing by. In the vast majority of cases, requests were made for defendants to be held in pre-trial detention, given the seriousness of the alleged offences. Nevertheless, we have also sought to uphold the principle that sentences should be tailored to each individual. Lawyers, however, have come out to denounce pre-trial detentions. Today, the criminal justice response is severe. We do not yet have the verdicts, but given the circumstances, we can imagine that prison sentences may be handed down to our clients. Even though prisons are already overcrowded and these individuals have profiles that make them poorly suited for incarceration. In the French capital, hearings have unearthed a different kind of profile. One example is a 20-year-old temporary worker with no criminal record. He was arrested carrying a knuckle duster and a knife. On his phone, investigators found a text in which he wrote what we plan to do was attack the riot police, a message he defended in court saying he wanted to act tough. The first convictions have also started to come through. One such case involves a 21-year-old man who was arrested in Paris on Saturday. In his backpack, police found rubbing alcohol, glass bottles, pieces of cloth and lighters. He's been accused of intending to make Molotov cocktails and has been handed two months jail time and slapped with a six-month suspended sentence. Given the exceptionally high number of people held in custody, court hearings are set to continue in the coming days.