Paris police authority bans French 'Freedom Convoy' protests from the capital

A French activist holds a Canadian flag before the start of their "Convoi de la liberte" (The Freedom Convoy), a vehicular convoy protest converging on Paris to protest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine and restrictions in Nice, France, February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT

The Paris police authority said it had decided to ban the so-called motorists' "Freedom Convoy" from holding protests in the French capital from February 11-February 14.

Protesters had set out from southern France on Wednesday in what they call a "freedom convoy" that will converge on Paris and Brussels to demand an end to COVID-19 restrictions, inspired by demonstrators who have blocked a Canadian border crossing.

About 200 protesters assembled in a parking lot in Nice, on France's Mediterranean coast, with many displaying Canadian flags in a nod to the truckers in Canada who are protesting their government's COVID-19 restrictions.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Tassilo Hummel)