Hollande calls for calm, law respect after suburb riots

French President Francois Hollande called on Wednesday for the return of calm and the full respect of law in Paris suburb of Trappes, where violent clashes erupted after a full-veil arrest. During a weekly cabinet meeting, the president stressed that the government's role was to "address economic and social problems of people's daily life and give a meaning of living together," reported the government's spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem. "All this requires that rules must be applied to each and institutions must be respected by all," she added. Violent clashes between about 250 young protestors and police units sparked at the weekend in Paris suburb following a check on a full-veil-covered Muslim woman, illegal in public under French law. Three policemen were slightly injured during the riots. A 14-year-old boy was seriously wounded in his eye by a shot from a Flash-ball whose origin remained unknown. On Monday, the criminal court in Versailles sentenced to six months in prison a 19-year-old man on charges of committing acts of violence and throwing projectiles at the police during the riots. Two other defendants were acquitted. Violent riots are common in neglected and poor districts where unemployment remains high with a large slice of poorly-skilled youth feel marginalized. In 2005, weeks of violence swept across France's neglected outskirts, sparked by the death of two youths who were electrocuted when they entered an electricity installation as they ran away from police.