French president urges calm after activist's death sparks political clash

French President Emmanuel Macron urged calm and restraint at the weekend after an activist died from injuries sustained during a beating, an incident that has become a political flashpoint.

The 23-year-old died on Saturday, having fallen into a coma after being violently beaten on Thursday outside a conference given by Rima Hassan, a far-left member of the European Parliament.

Hassan called on Friday for an investigation and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, a call that Macron repeated late on Saturday, after a wave of mutual recriminations around the beating.

"It is essential that the perpetrators of this ignominy be prosecuted, brought to justice and convicted. Hatred that kills has no place among us. I call for calm, restraint and respect," Macron said on X.

The activist, whose name the government has given only as Quentin, had been present to help protect members of the anti-immigration feminist association Nemesis, which was protesting against the event, the group said in a statement.

Le Monde newspaper quoted prosecutors as saying they had opened an investigation for aggravated manslaughter but that the perpetrators had not been identified.

Politicians quickly weighed in.

Bruno Retailleau, head of the conservative Republicans party and a declared candidate for the 2027 presidential election, blamed the far left.

Far-right National Rally (RN) heavyweight Marine Le Pen said the perpetrators must be brought to justice "with the utmost severity."

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of far-left France Unbowed (LFI) of which Hassan is a member, said some of his party's local offices had been "attacked" following statements by Retailleau and Le Pen. He did not give details.

-Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Alexandra Hudson and Philippa Fletcher/Reuters