150 detained in protest against new French police law – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

This is the third consecutive weekend of protests against the new security law.

The government had anticipated potential riots and clashes, after the previous two protest weekends were still in turmoil.

But things went quite well, as thousands of protesters, 10,000 according to organizers, were closely followed by riot police as they marched through Paris. At the beginning of the weekends, the police used water cannons and tear gas against the protesters.

Protests in many cities

Those behind the protests say 60,000 showed up on Saturday. The French Interior Ministry says 26,000 participated.

Det var òg protesting i Lyon, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Lille, Bordeaux, Toulouse or Marseille.

Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin tweets that “several hundred thugs” he had come to Paris to use force, and 142 were arrested.

You must protect the police officers

The bill, which caused many to react, could make it illegal to share photos of police officers on duty. The communication prohibited the sharing of photographs or videos of police officers with the aim of damaging their “physical or psychological integrity”.

The purpose is to protect them so that they do not get hung with names and images on other social networks.

At the same time that the proposal came in, a video of the police beating a black man provoked strong reactions in the country. The four police officers were then accused of beating him, apparently without provocation.

Controversial law

Since then, the government has decided to revise the section. The activists demanded that the entire section be scrapped.

The proposal contains a number of other controversial measures, such as extending authority to the police to monitor demonstrations and the use of drones to get the job done.

Civil rights groups and journalists are concerned that the law could harm press freedom and make it difficult to uncover police violence.