Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the halt to the use of the devices in the context of protests by high school students. According to Nuñez, quoted by The Guardian after an interview with RTL radio, the suspension is temporary and will remain in force until the authorities have clarified what happened.
The incident that preceded the decision occurred in Lens. Sources agree that the boy, who was 15 and taking part in the protest, lost a hand, but they give different accounts of the immediate connection with the police grenade: based on the available information, it is therefore not possible to establish the exact mechanism of the injury.
The suspension comes amid ongoing student protests and accusations against the police of disproportionate use of force or of incidents described as brutality against demonstrators. These are allegations reported by the sources, not an independently established conclusion in the available material.
The demonstrations are calling for better conditions and increased funding for French high schools. According to France 24, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in several cities across the country the day before the decision.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was expected to deliver an address to the nation on October 7. The speech comes in the same context of student mobilization and criticism of the way law enforcement is handling the demonstrations.
France 24 also reports that President Emmanuel Macron convened Lecornu and other ministers for an emergency meeting during the period of tension. The source is not corroborated by another organization in the material examined.
No end date for the suspension has been given so far. The government has therefore announced a halt to the use of stun grenades, but the duration of the measure and the outcome of the investigations into the Lens incident remain to be determined.