French security Bill sparks mass protests

PARIS • Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest against a security Bill that would restrict sharing of images of police officers and strengthen government surveillance tools, the latest sign that anger over recent cases of police violence is galvanising opposition.

Media organisations and human rights groups held rallies in dozens of cities, including Paris, Bordeaux and Lyon. All raised alarm over the new Bill, saying it could curb press freedom and limit police accountability.

"Rather than trying to solve problems, this law seeks to cover up blunders," said Mr Nicolas Gonnot, 50, a computer engineer who demonstrated in Paris.

Tensions in France have been rising over President Emmanuel Macron's security policies, which opponents say increasingly restrict civil liberties. The frictions have grown in part in the wake of a string of Islamist terrorist attacks over the past few months.

The demonstrators consider the new security Bill a drift towards repression in government policy and further evidence of the government's slide to the right.

One of the Bill's most disputed elements is a provision that would criminalise the broadcasting of "the face or any other identifying element" of on-duty police officers if the goal is to "physically or mentally harm" them.

The government says the provision is meant to protect police from online abuses. But critics say the wording is so open-ended it could dissuade people from filming the police and holding them accountable.

Another provision authorises the use of drones to film citizens in public and allows footage from body cameras worn by police to be live-streamed to the authorities.

The Bill has brought widespread condemnation from the French press, human rights organisations, and the country's defender of rights, an independent ombudsman which monitors civil and human rights.

The Bill, which the Lower House of Parliament passed last week, still needs to be considered by the Senate, and the government faces mounting pressure to rewrite it.

Mr Hugues Renson, a powerful lawmaker in Mr Macron's parliamentary majority, told newspaper Le Figaro: "When there is so much resistance to a measure, it is sometimes better to give it up than to persist."

In another sign that the government could be preparing to backtrack, Prime Minister Jean Castex has said he will appoint an independent commission to help redraft the disputed provision on broadcasting images of police.

Meanwhile, a press freedom group denounced the "unacceptable" injury of an award-winning Syrian photojournalist during the weekend's protests in Paris.

Mr Ameer Alhalbi, 24, a freelance photographer who worked for Polka Magazine and Agence France-Presse, was seen in photos with his face appearing bruised and his head covered in bandages.

Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire tweeted that Mr Alhalbi had been wounded at Place de la Bastille by "a police baton" and condemned the violence. He added that the photographer had been clearly identified as a journalist.

Polka's director of photography Dimitri Beck said Mr Alhalbi suffered a broken nose and injured forehead, and had been taken to hospital.

NYTIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE