Violent clashes erupted in Paris on Saturday as tens of thousands took to the streets to protest against new security legislation, with tensions intensified by the police beating and racial abuse of a black man that shocked France.
Several fires were started in Paris, sending acrid smoke into the air, as protesters vented their anger against the security law, which would restrict the publication of police officers’ faces.
About 46,000 people marched in Paris and 133,000 in total nationwide, the French Ministry of the Interior said.
Photo: AP
Protest organizers said about 500,000 joined nationwide, including 200,000 in the capital.
French President Emmanuel Macron late on Friday said that the images of the beating of black music producer Michel Zecler by police officers in Paris last weekend “shame us.”
The incident had magnified concerns about alleged systemic racism in the police force.
“Police everywhere, justice nowhere,” “Police state” and “Smile while you are beaten” were among the slogans brandished as protesters marched from Place de la Republique to the nearby Place de la Bastille.
“We have felt for a long time to have been the victim of institutionalized racism from the police,” said Mohamed Magassa 35, who works in a reception center for minors.
“But now we feel that this week all of France has woken up,” he said.
“The fundamental and basic liberties of our democracy are being attacked — freedom of expression and information,” added Sophie Misiraca, 46, a lawyer.
Several vehicles, a newspaper kiosk and a brasserie were set on fire close to Place de la Bastille, police said.
Some protesters threw stones at the security forces, who responded with tear gas and water cannon, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent said.
Police said that protesters impeded fire services from putting out the blazes and that nine people had been detained by the early evening.
French Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin condemned “unacceptable” violence against the police, saying 37 members of the security forces had been injured nationwide.
Thousands also took part in other marches in about 70 cities in France, including in Bordeaux, Lille, Montpellier and Nantes.
An investigation has been opened against the four police involved, but commentators have said that the images — first published by the Loopsider news site — might never have been made public if the contentious Article 24 of the security legislation was made law.
The article would criminalize the publication of images of on-duty police officers with the intent of harming their “physical or psychological integrity.”
It was passed by the French National Assembly, although it is awaiting French Senate approval.
The controversy over the law and police violence is developing into another crisis for the government as Macron confronts the COVID-19 pandemic, its economic fallout and a host of problems on the international stage.
For critics, 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.
“The police violence has left Emmanuel Macron facing a political crisis,” Le Monde said.
Separately, a press freedom group has denounced the “unacceptable” injury of an award-winning Syrian photojournalist during the protest in Paris.
Ameer Alhalbi, a freelance photographer who worked for Polka Magazine and AFP, was covering the demonstrations in the French capital.
In AFP photos Alhalbi’s face appears bruised, with much of his head covered in bandages.
Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire wrote on Twitter that the 24-year-old had been wounded at Place de la Bastille by “a police baton” and condemned the violence.
“Ameer came from #Syria to #France to take refuge, like several other Syrian journalists. The land of human rights should not threaten them, but protect them,” he wrote in a second tweet.
Dimitri Beck, director of photography for Polka, said that Alhalbi had sustained a broken nose and injured forehead, and had been taken to hospital.
Alhalbi has won several international awards, including second prize in the “Spot News” category for the World Press Photo in 2017, mainly for his coverage of the Syrian conflict in his home city Aleppo for AFP.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS