Off the wire
• U.S. dollar rallies against other major currencies  • EU approves 177-mln-USD aid to tackle root causes of migration in Horn of Africa  • Urgent: Gold futures settle nearly 3 percent lower on Fed-induced dollar rally  • Wizz Air to fly Budapest-Balkan routes  • 1st Ld Writethru: Greek lawmakers approve relief measures for pensioners  • Germany spends over 129 bln euros on public education in 2016  • Slovenia to expand cooperation with Gulf countries  • Long-term national interests top Lithuania's foreign policy agenda: PM  • Oil prices waver on stronger dollar, output cut optimism  • FTSE 100 rises 0.72 pct Thursday  
You are here: 　 Home

French parliament OKs state of emergency extension for 5th time

Xinhua, December 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Following approval from the National Assembly, the French government's proposal of extending state of emergency for the fifth time since it was declared after the 2005 Paris attacks was greenlighted by the Senate.

A total of 306 senators voted for a seven-month extension of the emergency rule and 28 were against.

The government proposed prolonging the emergency rule, saying it was necessary to cover the presidential election on April 23, 2017 and a possible run-off on May 7, 2017 and the parliamentary election scheduled for June 11 and 18, 2017.

French President Francois Hollande declared a state of emergency on Nov. 14, 2015 a day after the Paris saw a series of terrorist attacks that killed 130 people. Four extensions of the measure have taken place since.

Emergency rules that give authorities extra powers to assign house arrests and conduct raids without a judicial warrant, is set to expire on Jan. 15, 2017.

Thanks to state of emergency, police units foiled 17 terrorist attacks with 434 people placed under custody and 600 weapons seized, according to the interior ministry.

Despite persistent terror risks, prolonging the state of emergency gives fuel to domestic critics of the French government who say the law would undermine the Republic's values and freedom of expression and right to assembly. Endit