Paris (AFP)
The new doctrine of maintaining order in the demonstrations "undermines the freedom to inform", alarmed some forty journalists' companies in a letter published Tuesday, calling on the Interior Ministry to "correct" these measures.
"In a context already very degraded for the journalists during their coverage of the demonstrations", the new "national plan of the maintenance of the order", published Thursday, does not conform to the "French and European principles of the freedom of inform ", say the companies of journalists, editors and / or staff of many media such as AFP, Arrêt sur images, BFMTV, Challenges, Courrier international, Les Echos, Europe 1, L'Express, Le Figaro, France 2 , franceinfo, etc., in this letter posted on the World website.
Intended for the use of gendarmes and police officers, this plan notably provides for "the creation of a channel of exchange between the police and journalists + holders of a press card, and accredited to the authorities +", remind the signatories.
The wearing of protective equipment is also authorized to journalists "as soon as their identification is confirmed and their behavior free from any offense or provocation", according to the text of the ministry.
"However, the exercise of the profession of journalist, defined in the labor code, does not require the possession of a press card", underline the SDJ, "as well for the coverage of the demonstrations in the public space as for the + identification + "required for protective equipment.
In addition, the document "recalls" that "the offense of staying in a crowd after summons does not include any exceptions, including for the benefit of journalists or members of associations".
For the editors, it is "in reality" a "green light granted by the Minister of the Interior to the police to prevent journalists from fully reporting on the demonstrations, including their dispersal or their slippages ".
This is "all the more unacceptable" as it "follows many police abuses observed against journalists during recent social movements and denounced, among others, by the Council of Europe", believe the SDJ, calling on the "Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, to correct" his copy.
In a statement released on Friday, the National Union of Journalists (SNJ) also denounced this text which, under the guise of "ensuring optimal consideration of journalists" during the demonstrations, intends according to him to "bring them into line".
"Under Christophe Castaner", the predecessor of Mr. Darmanin, "more than 200 journalists" were "prevented from working by the police and gendarmerie", affirms the SNJ.
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