France reiterated on Monday its “attachment to the right to demonstrate peacefully”, after a pro-independence demonstration in Laâyoune, dispersed on Friday by the Moroccan police and during which some 40 people were injured.

“We regret that this gathering resulted in violence that left several people injured. We reiterate our attachment to the right to demonstrate peacefully”, declared Philippe Lalliot, spokesperson for the Quai d'Orsay, during a press briefing.

Amnesty International, a team of which was in Laâyoune, had denounced on Saturday an “excessive use of force” by the police against the demonstration that was taking place peacefully. The city's prefecture mentioned an unauthorized gathering and a blocking of the public highway, after “customary warnings”.

During this intervention, eight police officers were injured. They were transported to the city's military hospital, specified the Laâyoune prefecture in a statement, which did not report any other victims.

A video circulating on the web reports, for its part, on Saturday about a dozen people who attacked the police, after having failed to block traffic on the city's avenues. Another video shows separatists south of the Moroccan-Algerian borders, throwing stones and insulting members of the Moroccan army present at the border posts.