INFOGRAPHIC - Yellow Vest protests: 368 injured in police violence

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - Subjected to police violence during Yellow Vest protests, nearly 370 people were injured since last November, an online investigative French journal said on Tuesday.

According to Mediapart, one person was killed and 368 others injured after getting shot by tear gas capsules of French police during the nationwide Yellow Vest protests against the government.

The police violence left 21 people with eye injuries, 204 others with headshot. Some 68 people sustained leg injuries while 41 others were wounded in the chest.

Among those injured were 56 journalists and 37 high school students.

In Feb. Dunja Mijatovic, Council of Europe commissioner for human rights, called on French authorities to show more respect for human rights during protests but the French government defends the use of tear gas by police during protests in order to maintain public order.

Since Nov. 17, thousands of protesters wearing bright yellow vests -- dubbed the Yellow Vests -- have gathered in major French cities, including Paris, to protest French President Emmanuel Macron's controversial fuel tax hikes and deteriorating economic situation.

According to the French government figures, 11 people were killed in protests and over 2,000 others were injured.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said in February that security forces arrested some 8,400 people.

Additionally, at least 1,796 others received prison sentence.

Under pressure, Macron announced a rise in the minimum wage and scuttled the tax hikes.

Since then, however, the protests have grown into a broader movement aimed at tackling income inequality and are calling for giving citizens a stronger voice in government decision-making.