Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party has agreed to make changes in the controversial proposed Global Security Bill amidst country wide protest
The French President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party – La Republique En Marche! has agreed to make changes in the controversial proposed Global Security Bill amidst country wide protest over infringing on free speech and police accountability in the country.
As per Article 24 of the Bill, it is a criminal offence to post images and videos of police and soldiers on social media, which are deemed to target them as individuals. People found guilty will be send to prison for 1 year and will have to pay a fine of upto € 45,000 (£40,000).
Speaking on the occasion, the President of La Republique En Marche! Party said, “It is because we are resolved to protect our police forces and to do so without ambiguity, but also to remove doubts and misunderstandings […] that we are therefore going to propose a complete new wording of Article 24.”
Taking it to twitter, he tweeted (translated in English), “Our objective remains unchanged: to protect the police and their families without ever compromising our fundamental freedoms. On clause 24, there are still concerns that we must allay. The majority will therefore propose a new writing.” Original tweet in French:
#PPLSécuritéGlobale
— Christophe Castaner (@CCastaner) November 30, 2020
Notre objectif reste inchangé : protéger les forces de l'ordre et leur famille sans jamais mettre en cause nos libertés fondamentales.
Sur l'article 24, il reste des inquiétudes que nous devons dissiper. La majorité en proposera donc une nouvelle écriture.
A large number of people took to the streets on weekend expressing their anguish over the bill which refrains people from exposing police brutality on social media. Several reports of violent clashes erupted after police used water cannon to disperse the crowd. The images of the violence went viral on social media, raising scrutiny of the Government’s plans to make those images illegal.
Earlier, the Interior Minister of France – Gerald Darmanin has personally ordered the suspension of 3 French police officers after a video, showing the 3 police officers beating and racially abusing a Black musician in Paris, went viral. Separately, on November 23, 2020, Paris Police violently dismantled a migrant camp at Place de la Republique. Darmanin ordered probe into the incident after photos and videos of police brutality went viral. A week before that police had cleared out a bigger, illegal migrant campsite near the French National Sports Stadium in Saint Denis. The camp had 2,000 migrants from Afghanistan, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia.
The proposed Global Security Bill also contains provisions which allows the State to monitor the people of France.
People are also opposing a “New National Policing Scheme” which states that when ordered by Police, the journalists must disperse from a site where demonstration is taking place. This means there will be no press coverage of protests. This was announced by the Interior Minister of France – Gerald Darmanin in September 2020.
