Rally in Paris: Civil Rights Groups Protest Sarkozy’s Roma Repatriation

Some 30 civil rights groups and left-wing political organizations will begin the week’s anti-government protests with a rally in Paris to denounce French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s latest measures on crime and security, Reuters reports.

Critics have called the moves, which include revocation of French nationality for immigrants convicted of attacks on police and the repatriation of thousands of Roma to eastern Europe, a ploy to boost Sarkozy’s flagging popularity before elections in 2012 and divert attention from the pension reform and spending cuts.