Thousands took to the streets of Paris over the weekend to protest the French government’s ongoing “state of emergency” – accusing the government of allowing France to become a police state. Protestors on Saturday expressed concern that emergency measures introduced by President Francois Hollande following the November 13 Paris Attacks, have stripped away the rights of citizens and turned France into a tyrannical police state with no due process. Aljazeera.com reports:. Backed by the new powers, authorities have carried out about 3,400 raids on mosques, homes, and businesses with more than 300 people placed under house arrest. The French government extended the state of emergency in February, saying the threat of “terrorist violence remained very high”. Al Jazeera spoke to a number of those attending the rally on Saturday who said the government was unfairly targeting Muslims and using the pretext of preventing new attacks to crackdown on dissent generally. Leading a line of activists at the front of the protest, the Left Party’s Eric Coquerel condemned the state of emergency for having “no effect on terrorism” and posing a threat to civil liberties. “The state of emergency cannot become permanent because it effectively means citizens giving up their rights,” Coquerel told Al [...]