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Protest against the new security law in Nantes on Friday
Photo: Estelle Ruiz / imago images / Hans Lucas
In France, after a brutal police operation against a black music producer, four officers are investigated.
Two of them were in custody, two others were released from police custody subject to conditions, report the news agencies dpa and AFP unanimously, citing judicial circles.
A video of the incident released on Thursday caused outrage and protests across the country.
It shows how several police officers attack the music producer Michel Zecler in the entrance of his studio with beating.
A little later, a tear gas cartridge flies into the studio.
The video had "shocked" French President Emmanuel Macron "very much," as his office announced.
Macron demanded clear sanctions.
Three officials are now accused of, among other things, racist violence by officials, trespassing and forging documents.
The fourth official is charged with violence by officials and property damage.
One of the police officers reportedly threw a tear gas grenade into the building where the attack took place.
On Sunday evening, the Paris public prosecutor's office demanded that preliminary investigations be opened against the officials.
France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had called for the police officers to be dismissed if the allegations were confirmed.
They had "soiled the uniform of the Republic".
He himself is now expected to explain the incidents in the National Assembly on Monday under increasing political pressure.
Incident fuels debate over new security law
The attack on the music producer is the second case of police violence that caused horror and massive criticism in France last week.
Last Monday, videos circulated of the brutal evacuation of a makeshift tent camp by migrants on the Place de la République in Paris.
Investigations are ongoing here too.
The incidents have fueled the already heated debate over a planned security law in France.
According to the government, the law should better protect the police.
Particularly controversial is an article that criminalizes the publication of pictures of security officers in action if this is done with the aim of injuring the physical or mental integrity of the police officers.
A prison sentence of one year or a fine of 45,000 euros could be the consequence.
The House of Commons has already approved the project, now the Senate has to decide.
In a protocol, the four police officers stated that the producer did not wear a corona protective mask on the street and then attacked.
However, the video images only show how the police hit the producer in the face, kick him and beat him with the baton.
Zecler himself said the police attacked him for no reason.
"You said 'dirty negro' several times and beat me up in the process," he said through his lawyer.
Football stars like Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé were also horrified by the video recordings.
Over the weekend, more than 100,000 people across the country marched through the streets to demonstrate against the planned law and police violence.
In Paris alone there were 46,000, according to the Interior Ministry.
The organizers spoke of a total of 500,000 demonstrators and 200,000 in the capital.
During the partly violent protest, a photographer in Paris was brutally slapped in the face.
The police are investigating whether officials were responsible for this.
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apr / dpa / AFP
