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Demonstration in Toulouse against a planned ban on filming certain police operations
Photo: LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP
In France, there is growing outrage over police officers who allegedly beat and racially insulted a black music producer in his studio.
A video of the incident is circulating.
French President Emmanuel Macron was "very shocked," as his office announced on Friday.
Macron demanded clear sanctions.
The mission took place in Paris on Saturday.
The "Loopsider" portal made the process public.
Accordingly, the black music producer Michel Zecler was on the street without the corona protective mask required in Paris.
When he saw a police car, he quickly went to the production studio.
Recordings from a surveillance camera in the studio show the three police officers following the man and pushing him through the door.
You can see them beating Zecler for several minutes in the entrance of the studio.
Obviously insulted racially
The record producer claims the police attacked him for no reason.
"You said 'dirty nigger' several times and beat me up," said Zecler.
The officials, on the other hand, say they stopped the man because he was missing a protective mask and that he was then assaulted.
The French Police Inspectorate IGPN is now investigating the case.
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Michel Zecler in front of journalists in Paris: "They beat me up"
Photo: Thibault Camus / AP
Four police officers have been suspended from duty.
Three of them are under investigation for assault in office, the fourth is said to have thrown a tear gas grenade into the music studio.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Thursday evening that the officers should be dismissed if misconduct is found.
Numerous politicians and athletes expressed their shock after the video was released.
The French professional footballers Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé expressed their horror on Twitter.
It is an "unbearable video" and "scandalous violence," wrote Mbappé.
Only at the beginning of the week had the brutal evacuation of a migrant camp in Paris caused indignation.
Interior Minister Darmanin will now have to explain the recent incidents in the National Assembly on Monday.
The case fuels the debate about a new law.
It stipulates that in certain cases police officers may no longer film during an operation and that the dissemination of these images on social networks is a criminal offense.
Anyone who does not follow the new regulation should face a fine of up to 45,000 euros and a year in prison.
The lower house of parliament has already adopted the draft, now the Senate has to vote on it.
Prime Minister Jean Castex announced after massive protests by journalists that he would improve the proposal.
The chairman of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand of the ruling party La République en Marche (LREM), complained by telephone to Castex about the procedure, according to employees.
Accordingly, he expressed "great excitement" on behalf of the entire House of Commons over the government's plan to commission independent experts to recast the controversial article.
All over France people take to the streets against the law.
Demonstrations in Paris and many other cities have been announced for Saturday.
Last weekend, despite the Corona exit restrictions, more than 20,000 people protested.
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jpz / dpa / AFP / Reuters
