After a demonstration against police violence on Saturday in Paris, an investigation has been launched into whether officers used violence against journalists at the gathering. This allegation is made by three journalists who are said to have been approached by officials while filming an arrest, the newspaper “Le Parisien” reported on Sunday. There are some amateur videos of the scenes. Both the banned demonstration and the arrest, which the journalists filmed, are causing debate in France.
The sister of the young black man Adama Traoré, who died in 2016 after being chased by the police, called for the demonstration, which was later banned by the Paris police prefecture. Critics cite his fate as an example of police violence, and his sister Assa Traoré is known as an anti-racism activist. Around 2,000 demonstrators, including members of the Left Alliance in Parliament, took part in the rally. They were later criticized for this by politicians from other parties.
Affected by the arrest was Youssouf Traoré, a brother of the man who died in 2016, who is said to have hit a policewoman. He was knocked down and injured during the arrest and had to spend the night in hospital. Pictures from Sunday showed him with a swollen eye. “Adama’s brother arrested. It’s a shame,” tweeted Green MEP Sandrine Rousseau. “Getting out of an arrest like that when there was no justification for the violence.”
Almost two weeks after a police officer fatally shot a youth during a traffic stop near Paris, there had been demonstrations against police violence in several major French cities over the weekend. The riots following the death of the 17-year-old have since died down. The concern, however, is that they will flare up again on the national holiday on July 14th.
Bericht Le Parisien Bericht Le Monde
