The strong images showing four agents beating a black music producer outside his studio in the French capital – released by the Loopsider website and which went viral on social media – generated a wave of indignation in the country.
The agents were detained this Friday for an interrogation at the headquarters of the General Inspection of the National Police (IGPN).
In the scene, which lasts for several minutes and was captured by security cameras, the agents are seen punching, kicking and beating the victim, Michel Zecler, with a baton, whom the police drew attention for apparently not wearing a mask.
According to Michel Zecler, who lodged a complaint, the agents repeatedly called him “black man ***” while beating him.
His testimony reopens a debate about the supposed “structural” racism and violence within the French police, something that the authorities categorically deny. But several cases in recent years support this thesis.
The wave of outrage reached the highest echelons of government and football stars, such as Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé, as well as music personalities such as Aya Nakamura and Benjamin Biolay.
French President Emmanuel Macron referred last Friday to “unacceptable aggression” and “images that embarrass us” and called on the government to “make proposals quickly” to “fight more effectively against all discrimination”.
Macron met yesterday with Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, whom he asked to take action against the agents in question, government sources told AFP. After this meeting, the minister announced the suspension of the agents, who “stained the Republic’s uniform”.
The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation on Tuesday for “violence”, “falsification of public records” and “racism”, a justice source told AFP.
The new case of police violence was also highlighted in the main French newspapers.
“Nausea,” says the headline of “Libération”, showing a photograph of Michel Zecler’s blood-covered face. Le Monde also published images of the police attacking the producer on the cover.
The violence against Zecler comes after the violent dismantling, on Monday, of an informal immigrant camp in the heart of Paris. The images of this evacuation, filmed by journalists and activists, caused irritation among the French and led to the opening of a report by the General Police Inspectorate.
Among the images that were shown on social networks are agents to disperse migrants inside the tents, as well as an agent to trip over a migrant.
The controversial “global security” law
These cases, revealed by images broadcast on social networks, take place in the middle of a debate in France about a controversial security bill that aims to restrict the right to film police officers during their interventions.
The law was denounced by journalists, who consider it a violation of press freedom, and has sparked protests in the past two weeks. A new demonstration is scheduled for today in Paris.
The text, which was approved by the National Assembly on Tuesday and should be analyzed by the Senate, generated controversy. While the police unions, the right and the extreme right approve it, the left and public liberties advocates see this project as a violation of freedom of information and a sign of an authoritarian bias by the government.
The most controversial article in the text has the penalty of one year in prison and a 45,000 euro fine for disclosing the “face image or any other identifying element” of members of the law enforcement agencies in action, when “attentive” to yours ” physical or psychological integrity “.
“Without images, these cases would not come to light,” reporters said after the revelation of Zecler’s beating.
To calm the spirits, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the creation of an “independent commission to propose a new wording” of the controversial Article 24 of the global security law. But in the face of protests by parliamentarians, who see this as interference by the executive branch over their prerogatives, his office today said that the commission will limit itself to “making proposals”.
–
