Guest of Europe 1, Saturday, Christophe Rouget, police commander, recalled the "unavoidable" character of press freedom.
If, for him, article 24 of the “global security” law is the subject of a “hysterized” debate, he nevertheless asks for a dialogue to protect the police while preserving the work of journalists.
ANALYSIS
"Article 24 should not be a totem", insists Christophe Rouget, secretary general of the union of internal security executives (SCSI-PN), Saturday On Europe 1, in the program
It happened this week
, the police commander was questioned on the latest cases of police violence and on mistrust of the "global security" law and its article 24. According to him, this article, supposed to frame the images of police officers in intervention, is at the heart of a "totally binary and hysterized debate".
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Protect the police, while ensuring freedom of the press
While the police have already been accused of taking advantage of a feeling of impunity, this seems to have been increased by the "comprehensive security" law.
This is evidenced by recent events during the dismantling of a migrant camp in the heart of Paris, or the beating of producer Michel Zecler, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.
However, Commander Christophe Rouget refutes this hypothesis, believing that the "global security" law and more particularly article 24, very widely controversial, must make it possible both to protect the police and the freedom of journalists.
"The freedom of the press, we do not discuss it, it is essential", he affirms at the microphone of Europe1.
But according to him, a solution must absolutely be found.
"We are in a climate where the police are attacked, assaulted, threatened with a manhunt on social networks, so we must protect them", defends the secretary general of the SCSI-PN, the first union of police officers.
"Whether it is with article 24, or something else, let's get around the table," he continues, assuring that parliamentarians are trusted, among whom there are "many more lawyers than police".
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"Everyone is a journalist"
"I trust the parliamentarians to improve the text and to discuss, in order to find a solution to arrive, in the dialogue, to protect the police officers and to ensure the freedom of the press", he repeats, specifying the difficulty to articulate these two elements, especially during demonstrations.
"We have a real problem in maintaining order, because journalists have to do their job, but today in the demonstrations, everyone is a journalist and everyone finds themselves between the police" .
Also, thinking together, with the journalists' unions, and the police services, is imperative, "he said." To find a solution and that everyone can do their job in safety.