"Free movement", "identification certificate", "communication channel" ... The Ministry of the Interior published on Monday part of the new version of the national plan for the maintenance of order (SNMO) which specifies the place of journalists in the demonstrations, as ordered by justice.
The entire SNMO will be broadcast in the coming days, said the entourage of the Minister, Gerald Darmanin.
The "journalists" chapter of the new version provides for guaranteeing "the physical safety of journalists" because "it is imperative to protect the right to inform", indicate Gérald Darmanin and the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot.
Thus, "journalists can continue to exercise their missions when a crowd is dispersed without having to leave the premises" as long as they position themselves in such a way that "they do not hinder the action. forces of order ”in demonstrations declared as prohibited.
Press card or standardized certificate
In June, the Council of State inflicted a disavowal on the Minister of the Interior by canceling several provisions of the new SNMO presented in September 2020 and by forcing him to review its copy. Among the censored measures were the obligation made to journalists to leave the scene of the demonstrations to their dispersion or the technique of "the trap", which consists in surrounding the demonstrators and to retain them in a given perimeter. A month before the Council of State's decision, the independent Delarue commission on relations between the press and the police had made proposals to bring the two parties closer together. It proposed in particular the non-use of accreditation for the press and the absence of an obligation to disperse during demonstrations.
The new scheme states that it is "necessary" for journalists to be identifiable, by presenting a press card or a "standardized certificate of identification provided by their employer or sponsor" from January 2022. "This certificate has been validated by the profession and recognized by the public prosecutor ”, specifies the document. In addition, a "referent" within the police "trained and specifically available" will be appointed for all events and "a channel of exchange will be set up, in the form of a telecommunications" loop ".
The question of maintaining order has been the subject of heated controversy since the wave of protest against the labor law in 2016, and, above all, the movement of "yellow vests" in 2018-2019.
Their processions were punctuated by violent clashes, degradations and many wounded in the ranks of the demonstrators, in particular knocked down by LBD (defense bullet launcher) shots from the police.
