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French President Emmanuel Macron has said that images showing Paris police attacking a black man were “unacceptable” and “shameful”.
An investigation was launched into the violent arrest of Michel Zecler, a music producer who says he was racially abused by officers on Saturday.
The incident was captured on CCTV and mobile footage and widely publicized.
Michel Zecler said he was racially abused by French police
The officers involved have been suspended and they are currently being held for questioning, according to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office.
The police watchdog is also investigating the case.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Friday, Mr Macron He said the government needed to restore the public’s trust in the police.
“The images that we have all seen of the aggression against Michel Zecler are unacceptable, they are a shame for all of us,” he said.
“France You should never allow violence or brutality, no matter who it comes from.
“France should never allow hatred or racism to flourish.”
The French president added that the country’s police must lead at the forefront and by example.
“Those whose job it is to enforce the law must respect the law,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron said the incident was ‘unacceptable’ and ‘shameful’
Footage from the incident shows officers following Mr. Zecler into his music studio, where he is beaten and beaten with a baton.
Zecler told reporters Thursday that he had been walking nearby without a face mask, against French COVID-19 health protocols – and upon seeing a police car, he entered his music studio to avoid being fined.
The incident was captured on CCTV.
However, the police allegedly followed him inside and assaulted him.
“I was lucky, unlike many other people, to have the video that protects me,” Zecler told reporters Thursday.
The incident risks inflaming racial tensions in Paris, in the context of repeated reports of police brutality against black people and other ethnic minorities and supporters of the Black lives matter movement.
Dominique Sopo, president of the anti-racist group SOS Racisme, said Zecler was the target of a “racist attack.”
He said: “For police officers to act in that way, they must have a tremendous sense of impunity.
“This situation is a symptom of impunity that takes too long.”
The city police have already clashed review this week after people posted videos on social media of police beating protesters as they cleared a migrant camp in central Paris on Monday.
