French police risk charges over black man’s beating
Paris, France - Four French police on Sunday risked being charged over the beating and racial abuse of a black music producer that shocked France and intensified controversy over new security legislation.
Tens of thousands protested across France on Saturday against the security bill - which would restrict the right of the press to publish the faces of onduty police - with the rally in Paris ending in bitter clashes.
The beating of music producer Michel Zecler - exposed in video footage published last week - has become a rallying cause for anger against the police in France, accused by critics accuse of institutionalised racism including singling out blacks and arabs.
The protests in Paris saw a brasserie set alight, cars set on fire and stones thrown at security forces, who responded with tear gas and anti-riot tactics.
Among those hurt was an award-winning Syrian photojournalist, Ameer Alhabi, seen with a bruised face and much of his head covered in bandages in AFP photos.
Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, tweeted that the 24year-old had been wounded at Place de la Bastille by ‘a police baton’ and condemned the violence.
Alhalbi, a freelance photographer who has worked for AFP, said after being hurt in the protests on Saturday he was trapped for several hours with head wounds unable to get to hospital.
“I am better this morning,” said Alhalbi, who won several international awards for his coverage of the Syrian conflict in his home city of Aleppo for AFP.
“But the shock was very heavy, especially yesterday when I found myself wounded, bleeding heavily in my face and stuck for two hours in the demonstration - wedged between demonstrators and the police who did not want to let us out to get to hospital,” he said.
“Images of Syria surged back into my head,” he said.