RSF calls "to remind the security forces of their obligation to respect the rights of journalists and to protect them, in accordance with the provisions of the National Policing Plan (SNMO)," said Christophe Deloire, secretary general of the association.
Journalists covering these gatherings have been "the subject of numerous arbitrary arrests, attacks and intimidation by the police", although they have all been "clearly identified" as press professionals, the press freedom NGO said in a statement.
Among the "most serious" cases cited by the association, those of two photojournalists of the agency "Hans Lucas". One, caught in a trap on March 20 in Paris and who had asserted his status as a journalist, was held in custody for 20 hours "without prosecution and explanation".
The other photo-reporter was, for his part, "tackled to the ground by two CRS" in Rennes on March 16 while she was "clearly identifiable thanks to her press card hanging on her camera" and had "positioned herself so as not to hinder the ongoing intervention of the police".
Two days earlier, the same journalist had "been called a +fat whore+ when she had just reported to the policeman who asked her to leave that she was a journalist," RSF reports.
The association also recounts several incidents during the March 21 demonstrations in Paris, during which reporters who were away from the intervention of the police "found themselves on the ground after a charge".
Journalist Rémy Buisine of the online media outlet "Brut" was "twice assaulted by agents and prevented from doing his job," according to RSF.
"These various incidents go against the national policing plan (SNMO), adopted in December 2021, adds the NGO, recalling that, according to it, the presence of journalists "is of paramount importance" and "makes it possible to report on the opinions and demands of the demonstrators (...) as well as the intervention of public authorities and law enforcement agencies".
Meanwhile, Gérald Darmanin announced Friday the opening of eleven judicial investigations into alleged police violence for a week as part of the mobilization against the pension reform.
© 2023 AFP