France ends state of emergency imposed after 2015 terror attacks

Oct. 31 (UPI) -- France on Wednesday will officially end the state of emergency imposed after the 2015 terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in Paris, government officials said.

Officials said although the emergency will end, the extra powers given to law enforcement to combat terrorism will not. French President Emmanuel Macron signed many of those counter-terrorism powers into law with the approval of a parliamentary majority.

The new law gives police greater authority to conduct searches, close religious facilities, place more security in potential target areas and restrict the movements of people suspected of having ties to terrorism.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb called the change a "fair balance between security and freedom."

The new law, which had been in the legislative process since June, has worried some that the French government is making a permanent state of emergency and giving the federal government extrajudicial powers.

"They tell us we're ending the state of emergency, but they are actually making it eternal. It's an intellectual scam," Marie-Jane Ody, vice president of a judges union, said.

"Imagine a fascist-like group rises to power. All the legal instruments would be in place to commit abuses."

The French government has already been criticized for using emergency powers to quell protests by several organizations, including Amnesty International.

Paris declared the emergency after terrorists killed concert-goers at the city's Bataclan music venue on Nov. 13, 2015. The coordinated attacks also included gunmen and suicide bombers in other areas in the capital. Seven militants were killed by police, to bring the total death count to 137.