Mass protests staged in France in denouncing new filming draft law, police brutality

Thousands of French have taken to the streets to protest a proposed law that would restrict sharing images of police, amid public anger over footage showing police beating and racially abusing a black man.

On Saturday, dozens of rallies were held across the European country against the draft “security” law, which the demonstrators believe is designed to cover up police violence by limiting press freedoms.

In the capital, Paris, several thousand people converged on the Place de la République and nearby streets carrying national flags and signs denouncing police brutality and demanding free press.

Clashes broke out during the rallies in Paris when police fired tear gas at a march after masked protesters launched fireworks at police lines, erected barricades, and hurled stones.

Other French cities, including Bordeaux, Lille, Strasbourg, Montpellier and Nantes, were also the scene of similar demonstrations.

Outcry in France over police brutality against black people

French police is under fire over after they were filmed beating and allegedly racially abusing a black man in Paris.

The video footage that recently went viral in France showed three police officers violently beating music producer Michel Zecler after following him inside his studio.

They later left the studio and threw a tear gas grenade into the building to get those inside to come out. Nine other people, according to reports, who were recording music in the studio basement, were also beaten.

The man later said he had been on the street without a face mask in breach of health protocols against COVID-19, but upon seeing a police car, he went into his nearby studio to avoid being fined.

However, he said, the police stormed his studio and began to assault and racially abuse him.

The shocking footage drew widespread criticism from French public, politicians, celebrities and media outlets, renewing a debate over French President Emmanuel Macron’s draft law.

One of the most disputed elements of the proposed law is Article 24, which would criminalize the publication of images of on-duty police officers with the intent of harming their “physical or psychological integrity.”

The draft law has already been passed by the National Assembly but it is still awaiting Senate approval.

Organizers of protest rallies are calling for the article to be withdrawn, saying that it curbs the right of reporters to cover police brutality and contradicts “the fundamental public freedoms of our Republic.”

Macron calls police beating of black man ‘shameful’ in face of rising protests

French President Emmanuel Macron calls police beating of black man "shameful" in face of rising protests against racism and police brutality in the country.

Under the bill, offenders could be jailed for up to a year, and fined 45,000 euros ($53,000) for sharing images of police officers.

“This bill aims to undermine the freedom of the press, the freedom to inform and be informed, the freedom of expression,” said one of Saturday’s protest organizers.

Macron — who has sparked major controversies recently over derogatory statements against Islam and Muslims — has declared, ironically enough, that he had called on his government to devise plans to restore the public’s confidence in the police and to fight against all forms of discrimination.

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