A prosecutor in Toulouse has referred the IGPN, France’s police oversight unit, after a 20-year-old protester claimed he was seriously injured in the hand during clashes with police. The incident happened during demonstrations on 24 October, when the Haute-Garonne prefecture said it occurred “in a context of dispersing an crowd.” The injured man filed a complaint after being heard on Sunday as part of an investigation into the causes of serious injuries. On Monday, the Toulouse public prosecutor asked the IGPN to investigate offences described as “intentional violence by a person holding public authority” that caused mutilation or permanent disability during a public demonstration on the road. The prosecutor said this legal label does not prejudge the exact offence, but allows the case to be handled at the most serious level. The prosecutor also reported that the preliminary classification is tied to the fact the victim suffered serious hand injuries. Police statistics provided by the interior ministry showed 1,435 people were arrested during nationwide demonstrations on Saturday for the cost of living and defence of public services. The same figures cited 267 members of the police and around 150 protesters injured, including three assessed as “quite” severely injured in Toulouse, Reims and Clermont-Ferrand. The prosecutor in Lyon also said Tuesday it had opened an IGPN-led investigation into the causes of injuries in a separate case involving a man who was not demonstrating but was hurt during the same 24 October protest period. The IGPN investigation is now underway to determine what caused the protester’s injuries during the Toulouse clashes.