Thousands of people gathered in separate regions of France to condemn a law being prepared and considered a "freedom violation" in a country shaken by a new case related to police violence.
In Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Strasbourg, Marseille, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand and Caen, rallies will be held against this text, which its opponents consider "violates freedom of expression and the rule of law."
About 1,500 people gathered in Fei Lille headed by Mayor Martin Aubry, under the slogan "Freedom and Equality Shoot!", and they wrote on a banner raised among the flags, the insignia of the Press Club and several unions, especially for journalists or the Human Rights League, "We are being beaten in scenes that are being cut. !
In Montpellier, between four and five thousand people held signs written on them "More police than doctors - a sense of priorities" or "Democracy is disrupted".
At the core of the protests that escalated until a political crisis sparked, three articles of the "Comprehensive Security Law" project, which received the green light from the National Assembly last week, relate to the publication of photos and videos of police officers while performing their work, and the security forces' use of drones and surveillance cameras.
Article 24, which focuses on attention, stipulates a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros for broadcasting pictures of police and gendarmes motivated by "bad faith."
The government affirms that this article aims to protect inpiduals who are subjected to hate campaigns and calls for murder on social networks while revealing details from their private lives.
However, opponents of the law point out that many of the cases of violence committed by the police would not have been revealed if they had not been picked up by the lenses of journalists and citizens' phones.
On Monday, the police conducted a violent intervention to dismantle a migrant camp set up in a square in central Paris as part of a media operation by organizations defending them, and they also attacked journalists in front of the cameras.
But the condemnation reached its climax Thursday with the publication of CCTV images showing three police officers severely beating a black music producer.
The press, social media, and some senior figures in the sport denounced police violence.
On Friday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned this "unacceptable attack" and "shameful images", calling on the government to "quickly present to him proposals" for "combating all forms of discrimination more effectively."
On Thursday, Macron asked Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan, who is considered a central figure in his government, to impose very clear sanctions on the elements involved in striking Michel Zilker.
In order to face the wave of condemnation of Article 24, Prime Minister Jean Castex sought to find a way out by forming an "independent committee charged with proposing a new formulation."
However, the initiative met with the dissatisfaction of parliamentarians with all the trends, who considered it a sign of "contempt", and met with the "opposition" of the President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand.
The Coordination Committee calls for "the withdrawal of articles 21, 22 and 24 of the comprehensive security law proposal and the withdrawal of the new national plan to maintain order" that was announced in September.
The plan provides a law that forces journalists to disperse during demonstrations when security forces issue an order to do so, preventing them from covering events during these gatherings that have been marked by unrest in recent years.
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