Lille (AFP)
The two students from the Lille School of Journalism (ESJ) arrested on Thursday on the sidelines of the demonstration against the pension reform in Lille were released on Friday, said the prosecution.
The preliminary investigation targeting the first of the two, Baptiste Hermant, arrested at the end of the demonstration "continues", said the prosecution. He had been placed in police custody for "violence against a person holding public authority".
The second, Quentin Saison, "was the subject of a legal reminder". He participated in a rally in front of the police station to demand the release of the first and had been arrested for "participation in a crowd after summons to disperse".
The police custody of these two students was lifted late Friday morning, according to the prosecution.
During a press conference Friday evening, Quentin Saison described as "arbitrary" the arrest of his comrade as well as the recall to the law of which he was the subject.
"We want to completely deny all the accusations by the police, which are used to discredit us," he said, referring to videos which show "that there has been (no) any violence of the demonstrators ".
"It will not prevent me from continuing," said Baptiste Hermant, "we will continue to show what is happening in social movements. I will be more careful, but I will still be there."
Thursday evening, the ESJ had affirmed in a tweet that they had been arrested "for having taken photos of police officers in intervention" and that "the freedom to take photos during a demonstration is a right" that "we defend. ..) for professional journalists and for future journalists. Attempts to restrict this right by intimidation or legislative amendments are not acceptable. We strongly condemn them, "she added.
A police source had given a different version, alleging violence against the police and a refusal to comply.
Some 1,200 people demonstrated Thursday afternoon in the center of Lille against the pension reform, according to the northern prefecture.
© 2019 AFP