French mayor faces criticism after dancing with protesters VIDEO

The mayor of the French city of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko, has faced criticism after a video emerged showing him dancing alongside protesters.

The mayor was accused of inciting unrest and arson, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The mayor said, however, that he had been trying to ensure the safety of protesters and help put out a fire that had broken out.

Protests by French secondary school students have been continuing for about a week. The students are demanding increased education funding, smaller class sizes and more teachers.

The demonstrations have mainly taken place in the Paris region, but have also spread to Lille, Lyon, Grenoble and Nice.

According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, 164 people have been detained during the protests. Demonstrations have taken place at nearly 180 schools, with students blocking access to 27 institutions and attempting to block entrances to another 50.

In some cases, the protests have been accompanied by unrest, arson, clashes with police and property damage. Preliminary figures indicate that 12 law enforcement officers, eight teachers, including three headteachers, and around 12 students have been injured.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov