Four French policemen appear before a judge for beating a black man

Paris: On Sunday, four policemen were arrested after they appeared in a video recording of beating a black music producer in Paris before a judge, in a case that caused great commotion in the country and contributed to a massive mobilization against the bill. of “comprehensive security” and increased pressure on the government.

On Saturday, France witnessed violent events in the context of demonstrations involving more than 130,000 people, according to police, while organizers estimated the number of participants at 500,000.

And in the context of a tense political climate facing the government, which faces a campaign involving journalists, directors, documentaries, human rights activists and citizens protesting the security bill, the “Lopsider” website published on Thursday a video recording showing music producer Michel Zeclair being brutally beaten for several minutes inside the studio that he possessed him on November 21, at the hands of three policemen, before a fourth policeman fired tear gas inside the site.

A second recording, released Friday, shows Zeclair being beaten again in the street after he was taken from the studio, despite the presence of a large number of police officers at the scene, but none of them raised a finger.

Zeclair said he was repeatedly subjected to racial abuse and was described as a “dirty nigger.” According to the daily “Le Parisien”, the arrested policemen denied having engaged in any racist behavior.

The Paris attorney general, Remy Hitz, requested on Sunday night the temporary arrest of three of the four policemen and referred the file to an investigating judge, while requesting that the fourth policeman who fired the tear gas be placed under judicial supervision.

This Tuesday an investigation was opened against him on suspicion of “deliberate violence by a head of public authority”, accompanied by racism and “lies in public documents.” It is a crime that requires appearing before a criminal judicial authority, but this type of violation is usually referred to a single judge.

On Thursday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan announced that he would request the “removal” of the elements involved in the violence from the security forces, saying that they had “stained the uniform of the republic.”

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “unacceptable attack” and said he was “ashamed” of these scenes.

For the third time this year, Macron called on the government to “quickly present proposals to reaffirm the bond of trust that should naturally exist between the French and those who protect them, and to combat all forms of discrimination more effectively.”

This case strengthened the momentum of the campaign against the bill on “comprehensive security” supported by the Minister of the Interior, which he considers “an attack on freedom of the press, freedom of the media and access to information.”

The campaign believes that many cases of police violence would have gone unpunished if the cameras had not been documented.

The campaign “strongly condemned” some infractions and acts of violence that took place in Paris and Lyon, “especially” violence against policemen in Place Bastille “after the end of the Paris demonstration.

The government announced that some 60 members of the security forces were injured during the violence.

Various recordings circulated on social media showed the two policemen being beaten by protesters, which the Interior Minister deemed “unacceptable violence.”

According to the Ministry of the Interior toll, 81 people were arrested in connection with the violence that interrupted the demonstrations.

In Paris, a 24-year-old Syrian photographer, Amir al-Halabi, a contributor to Polka magazine and Agence France-Presse, was injured while covering the events, he was injured.

The police announced the injuries of the protesters who reported the violence to the General Police Inspectorate.