Anti-Sarkozy protests continue as president goes on holiday - 1

(Adds details) PARIS, May 8 (RIA Novosti) - Nicolas Sarkozy left France for a short break Monday after his victory in last weekend's polls, but violent protests against the hardline president-elect show no signs of abating. Youngsters in Paris and other cities across France took to the streets late Sunday to protest the election of the former interior minister, who heavy-handedly suppressed riots in ethnically mixed suburbs in the fall of 2005. The protesters chanted anti-Sarkozy slogans, branding him a "fascist." Overnight, they torched a total of 730 cars and injured 78 policemen. Almost 600 people were detained overall. Disturbances resumed Monday evening, with several hundred youths going on the rampage in Paris' Place de la Bastille, torching cars and smashing shop windows, phone booths and bus shelters. Some 200 troublemakers were arrested. Thirty-four protesters were detained Monday in France's second city, Lyon. Two received short prison sentences - six and three months - in snap trials. Three policemen were injured in clashes in Toulouse, in the country's south, where protesters started fires in litter bins outside City Hall. Twenty-two troublemakers are now under arrest. Similar protests reportedly took place in northern and northwestern France, including Lille, Nantes and Rennes, and riot police had to use tear gas to disperse the crowds. Ahead of the May 6 runoff, Socialist Segolene Royal warned French electors against voting for her Conservative rival, saying he would bring a climate of brutality to France, with tougher measures against juvenile delinquency and illegal immigration high on his campaign agenda. Sarkozy, who escaped to an undisclosed destination early Monday, was later spotted sailing with his family on a yacht off Malta's coast. He is expected back in Paris later this week, to take over the Elysee from President Jacques Chirac May 16. According to French media, the most likely candidate for the job of prime minister in Sarkozy's government is his close ally Francois Fillion, a former education minister who masterminded a ban on wearing religious symbols in schools. Sarkozy, who won a comfortable 53.06% in the presidential runoff, will now try to secure the support of a majority of voters for his UMP party in the upcoming legislative polls, set for June 10 and 17.