PARIS: France streets are in a controversy intensified by the beating and racial abuse of a black man by police officers that shocked the country. Thousands have taken to the streets on Saturday to demand the government abandon a controversial new security law.
The protest going on is against the security law which would restrict the right of the press to broadcast images of police officers' real faces. Demonstrations in Paris filled to the unions took place nationwide with the central Place de la Republique despite the coronavirus pandemic. President Emmanuel Macron said late Friday that the images of the beating of black music producer Michel Zecler in Paris last weekend "shame us". The incident had intensified concerns about alleged systemic racism in the police force. An investigation has been opened against the four police-involved but critics say that the images won't have got disclosed if Loopsider didn't first publish. The article criminalizes the publication of images of on-duty police officers under this article, offenders could be sentenced to up to a year in jail, and fined 45,000 euros for sharing images of police officers.
The government says the provision is intended to protect officers from online abuse and has been intensely lobbied for by police representatives. But media unions say it could give police a green light to prevent journalists and social media users from documenting abuses such as those against Zecler.
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