PARIS: The beating of music producer Michel Zecler has taken a serious turn. Four French police officers have been charged in connection with the beating and racial abuse of a black music producer. A few days after a judicial source said on Monday that the incident in Paris is intensified controversy over a new security law.
The video exposed of assault was published last week and now has become a focus of anger against the police, who critics accuse of institutionalized racism and targeting black and Arab people. The rally in Paris ended in bitter clashes. An investigating magistrate ruled early Monday morning to charge three with "willful violence by a person holding public authority" and "forgery". Two were kept behind bars, while the other two were put on conditional release, a judicial source told AFP.
Police arrested 81 people at the protests, with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin saying the violence was "unacceptable". It's reported that the four officers had a good service record before the incident, and claimed they had acted "out of fear". Zecler had been stopped for not wearing a mask and because of a strong smell of cannabis. But only a tiny quantity of the substance was found. The controversy over the law and police violence is developing into another crisis for the government.
It's an economic fallout as President Emmanuel Macron confronts the pandemic and a host of problems on the international stage. Mr. Macron said that the images of Zecler's beating "shame us" and asked the French government to come up with proposals to "fight against discrimination" on Friday. The legislation is further evidence of a slide to the right by Macron, who came to power in 2017 as a centrist promising liberal reform of France.
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