France is expected to witness dozens of protest movements today to denounce a law under preparation, which its opponents consider a violation of freedoms, days after the incident of the police assault on a man of African descent;

It shook public opinion in the country.

In addition to the leftist traditional bodies, trade unions and civil societies, many personalities joined the call for demonstrations, under the slogan "We reject France being a country of police violence and abuse of media freedom."

Activists of the "yellow vests" movement, which rocked France in 2018 and 2019, are also expected to take to the street, and their demonstrations were sometimes marked by confrontations and clashes with the police.

In Paris, the authorities asked the organizers to limit the demonstration to a gathering, but the judiciary allowed a street demonstration on Friday evening.

Photography of security men

The protests are aimed at opposing 3 articles of the "Comprehensive Security Law", which received the green light from the National Assembly (Parliament) last week. These articles relate to the publication of photos and videos of police officers while performing their work, and the security forces' use of drones and surveillance cameras.

The Coordinating Committee calling for the demonstrations saw that "the draft law aims to undermine the freedom of the press, the media, the information, and the freedom of expression; that is, in short, basic public freedoms."

Article 24 - which focuses on attention - stipulates a one-year prison sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros for broadcasting pictures of police and gendarmes motivated by "bad faith."

From a previous demonstration against police violence in France (Reuters)

The government asserts that this article aims to protect individuals who are subjected to hate campaigns and calls for killing on social networks, while revealing details about their private lives.

However, opponents of the text point out that many cases of violence committed by the police would not have been exposed if they had not been captured by the lenses of journalists and citizens' phone cameras.

They assert that the law is useless.

The current laws are sufficient to deal with such crimes, pointing out that French law "punishes actions, not intentions."

Violent interventions

Last Monday, the police violently intervened to dismantle a migrant camp set up in the central square of Paris, as part of a media operation by organizations defending them, and they also attacked journalists in front of cameras and smartphones.

The condemnation reached its climax on Thursday, with the publication of CCTV images showing 3 police officers severely beating an African-American music producer.

On Friday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned this "unacceptable assault" and "shameful images," calling on the government to "quickly present to him proposals" for "combating all forms of discrimination more effectively."

On Thursday, Macron asked Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan - who is considered a central figure in his government - to impose very clear sanctions on the elements involved in beating Michel Zilker, who was subjected to violence last Thursday.

The President of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michel Bachelet, and the United Nations human rights rapporteurs have also condemned this behavior, and the case has been raised for discussion in the European Parliament.