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Ameer Alhalbi covered Saturday’s demonstrations against police violence and the French government’s plans to restrict the sharing of images of officers.
News organizations and media rights advocates have denounced and expressed shock at the injuries sustained by award-winning Syrian photojournalist Ameer Alhalbi during a protest in Paris against police brutality.
Alhalbi, a freelance photographer who has worked for Polka magazine and the AFP news agency, covered Saturday’s demonstrations against police violence and the French government’s plans to restrict the sharing of officer images.
Dimitri Beck, director of photography for Polka, said Alhalbi suffered a broken nose and an injured forehead and was taken to hospital. The photos showed Alhalbi’s face bruised, with much of his head covered in bandages.
Christophe Deloire, Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders, tweeted that the 24-year-old had been injured on the Place de la Bastille by “a police baton.”
“Ameer came from Syria to France to take refuge, as did several other Syrian journalists. The land of human rights must not threaten them, but protect them, “he said in a second tweet, condemning the” intolerable “violence.
Street doctors treat Syrian freelance photographer Ameer Al Halbi, who was injured during clashes at a demonstration against the ‘global security’ bill. [Gabrielle Cezard/AFP]
“We are shocked by the injuries sustained by our colleague Ameer al-Halbi and we condemn the unprovoked violence,” said Phil Chetwynd, AFP’s director of global news.
“The injuries occurred while he was exercising his legal rights as a photojournalist documenting the protests on the streets of Paris.”
Chetwynd demanded that police officers investigate Alhalbi’s beating to ensure that “all journalists can carry out their work without fear or restrictions.”
Award winning #Syria| n photojournalist Ameer AlHalabi, was attacked by police in #Paris while covering protests against a law granting immunity to the police.
What kind of example is this scenario for dictators and media suppressors in the world? #Journalism is not a crime pic.twitter.com/q8c4uAKh9o– Zaina Erhaim (@ZainaErhaim) November 29, 2020
‘Shocking and reprehensible’
A statement from Polka magazine also condemned the “police attack” against Alhalbi.
The magazine’s Director of Publications, Alain Genestar, said the incident was “all the more shocking and reprehensible” because he was clearly identified as a press photographer.
Alhalbi has won several international awards, including second prize in the “Spot News” category for the World Press Photo in 2017, primarily for his coverage of the Syrian conflict in his hometown Aleppo for AFP.
Police said Sunday that two protesters had complained of being injured by officers in protests outside Paris, while no recounting had yet been made in the capital.
Some 62 police officers were injured during Saturday’s demonstrations, the Interior Ministry said, while 81 people were arrested.
Several videos shared online showed protesters beating police officers.
The Interior Ministry added that 133,000 people had participated in the demonstrations, 46,000 of them in Paris, while organizers said the figure was 500,000 across the country and 200,000 in Paris.
People with banners and posters attend a demonstration against the “Global Security Bill” which, according to human rights groups, would make it a crime to disseminate a picture of a police officer’s face and violate the freedom of journalists in France, in Paris. [Christian Hartmann/Reuters]
The protests come as the government of President Emmanuel Macron is trying to push through a new bill that restricts the ability to film police, raising concerns that it would allow police brutality to go undetected and go unpunished.
The controversy escalated with a video showing the beating and racial abuse of a black man earlier this week.
The Michel Zecler case shocked France, with celebrities and politicians condemning the officers’ actions.
Macron on Friday called the incident an “unacceptable attack” and called on the government to present proposals to “fight discrimination.”
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