Outcry over expulsions of Gypsies

PARIS - Thousands of people marched here Saturday, blowing whistles and beating drums to protest expulsions of Roma, or Gypsies, and other new security measures adopted by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.

The demonstration in the capital was the largest on a day of protests in at least 135 cities and towns across France and elsewhere in Europe. Human-rights and anti-racism groups, labor unions and leftist political parties took part in the protests.

They accuse Sarkozy of stigmatizing minority groups such as the Roma and seeking political gain with a security crackdown. They also say he is violating the French tradition of welcoming the oppressed, noting that the country is one of the world's leading providers of political asylum.

The protests mark the first show of public discontent since Sarkozy announced new measures to fight crime in late July.

Sarkozy said Gypsy camps would be "systematically evacuated." His interior minister and other officials said last week that about 1,000 Roma have been given small stipends and repatriated to Romania since then.

For years, Sarkozy has used his image as a tough, law-and-order politician to win political support. Sarkozy has linked Roma to crime, saying their camps are sources of prostitution and child exploitation. The latest moves by Sarkozy came after violence between police and youths in a suburban Grenoble housing project and other clashes in a traveling community in the Loire Valley.

Sarkozy also said naturalized citizens who threaten the lives of police officers should lose their citizenship, a proposal critics say is anti-constitutional.

"Mr. Sarkozy is there to stand for the constitution, not to trample it," said Jean-Pierre Dubois, president of France's Human Rights League. "So we consider this situation extremely dangerous. That's why we are here."

- Associated Press