<p>France's lower house of parliament is opening debate Tuesday on a security bill that would permit the imprisonment of people who publish images of police officers with the intent to cause them harm.</p>

<p>Critics, including France's human rights ombudsman, said the measure would hurt press freedoms.</p>

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<p>Offenders would face up to one year in prison and a 45,000-euro ($53,000) fine under the proposed law championed by lawmakers of President Emmanuel Macron's party, which has a majority at the National Assembly.</p>

<p>The bill's most controversial measure would make it a new criminal offense to disseminate, by whatever means and on whatever media, with the intent of causing physical or psychological harm, an image of the face, or any other element that could identify a police officer."</p>

<p>The measure's backers include Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. Speaking last week, he said it is needed because officers ''are constantly threatened in their personal life&nbsp;after being identified and because there are calls for female officers to be raped.''</p>

<p>He downplayed any impact for journalists, saying ''they'll obviously still be able to film any police intervention."</p>

<p>But France's human rights ombudsman, Claire Hedon, said the bill involves ''significant risks of undermining fundamental rights,''&nbsp;including press freedom.</p>

<p>''The publication of images relating to police interventions are legitimate and necessary for democratic functioning," she said.</p>

<p>Journalists' unions and rights campaigners called for protests Tuesday in front of the National Assembly.</p>

<p>Critics are warning that the bill will result in ''massive''&nbsp;self-censorship and argue that images posted online help expose police blunders and brutality.</p>

<p>They say the measure would endanger journalists and citizen-journalists, especially during violent demonstrations. They also worry about how courts will determine whether images were posted with intent to harm.</p>

<p>The National Assembly is scheduled to vote next week on the bill, which will then go to the Senate.&nbsp;</p>


France's lower house of parliament is opening debate Tuesday on a security bill that would permit the imprisonment of people who publish images of police officers with the intent to cause them harm.

France's lower house of parliament is opening debate Tuesday on a security bill that would permit the imprisonment of people who publish images of police officers with the intent to cause them harm. Critics, including France's human rights ombudsman, said the measure would hurt press freedoms. Offenders would face up to one year in prison and a 45,000-euro ($53,000) fine under the proposed law championed by lawmakers of President Emmanuel Macron's party, which has a majority at the National Assembly. The bill's most controversial measure would make it a new criminal offense to disseminate, by whatever means and on whatever media, with the intent of causing physical or psychological harm, an image of the face, or any other element that could identify a police officer." The measure's backers include Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin. Speaking last week, he said it is needed because officers ''are constantly threatened in their personal life after being identified and because there are calls for female officers to be raped.'' He downplayed any impact for journalists, saying ''they'll obviously still be able to film any police intervention." But France's human rights ombudsman, Claire Hedon, said the bill involves ''significant risks of undermining fundamental rights,'' including press freedom. ''The publication of images relating to police interventions are legitimate and necessary for democratic functioning," she said. Journalists' unions and rights campaigners called for protests Tuesday in front of the National Assembly. Critics are warning that the bill will result in ''massive'' self-censorship and argue that images posted online help expose police blunders and brutality. They say the measure would endanger journalists and citizen-journalists, especially during violent demonstrations. They also worry about how courts will determine whether images were posted with intent to harm. The National Assembly is scheduled to vote next week on the bill, which will then go to the Senate.

France mulls ban on police images, alarming rights defenders

<p>Police arrested dozens of French youths after they torched cars on Tuesday night. Protests have become increasingly violent over the past few days in a north Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois in response to the rape of a young black man by&nbsp;police&nbsp;last week.</p>

<p>In an Al Jazeera video, the victim, only identified as &quot;Theo&quot;, describes that he was on his way to meet a friend&nbsp;through his neighbourhood when he saw the police asking people for identification. Theo claims that he intervened on their behalf after&nbsp;an officer&nbsp;slapped one of them. That&#39;s when he says the assault happened.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the video, Theo also alleges&nbsp;that the policemen hurled abuses at him, calling him &quot;negro&quot; and &quot;bitch&quot;.</p>

<p>The Al Jazeera video also has footage of the attack from the police dash cam.</p>

<p>Back on Monday,&nbsp;the police, after running out of teargas, resorted to firing real bullets in the air to disperse protesters, Reuters reported.&nbsp;Defending the move, police representative Luc Poignant said, &quot;Things could have been a lot worse. We could have had eight dead police officers,&quot; Reuters reported.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Hundreds had taken&nbsp;to the streets demanding justice for Theo, protesting against police brutality after 22-year-old Theo was beaten and sodomised with a&nbsp;baton.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The attack itself happened last Thursday.&nbsp;The police say that four officers stopped to speak to a group of about&nbsp;twelve people &quot;after hearing calls characteristic of lookouts at drug dealing sites&quot;,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/06/french-police-brutality-in-spotlight-again-after-officer-charged-with" target="_blank">&nbsp;The Guardian</a> quotes the prosecutor&#39;s office as saying. They attempted to arrest the 22-year-old man, who has no criminal record, and when he allegedly resisted&nbsp;they used teargas and &quot;one of them used an expandable baton&quot;, the Guardian reports the prosecutor&#39;s office as saying.</p>

<p>The four policemen, who all deny the charges, were suspended. One was charged with rape and the other three with&nbsp;unnecessary violence.&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to media reports, Theo suffered severe anal injuries and required surgery. He also suffered injuries to the head and face, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/justice-theo-protests-erupt-police-rape-170206161606495.html">Al Jazeera</a> reported.&nbsp;</p>

<p>President Francois Hollande visited the victim in the hospital, The Guardian reports.</p>

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<p>Policemen stand next to a graffiti reading &quot;fuck the police&quot; in front of the local police station in Aulnay-sous-Bois, northern Paris, on February 6, 2017. (AFP)</p>
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<p>The Wreckage of a burnt car is seen in photo taken on February 7, 2017 after protesters burnt cars and garbage bins in one of the main streets of the Rose des Vents district in Aulnay-sous-Bois. (AFP)</p>
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<p>(WION)</p>


Protests took place after a 22-year-old black man was beaten and sodomised with a baton by four policemen in Aulnay-sous-Bois

Police arrested dozens of French youths after they torched cars on Tuesday night. Protests have become increasingly violent over the past few days in a north Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois in response to the rape of a young black man by police last week. In an Al Jazeera video, the victim, only identified as "Theo", describes that he was on his way to meet a friend through his neighbourhood when he saw the police asking people for identification. Theo claims that he intervened on their behalf after an officer slapped one of them. That's when he says the assault happened. In the video, Theo also alleges that the policemen hurled abuses at him, calling him "negro" and "bitch". The Al Jazeera video also has footage of the attack from the police dash cam. Back on Monday, the police, after running out of teargas, resorted to firing real bullets in the air to disperse protesters, Reuters reported. Defending the move, police representative Luc Poignant said, "Things could have been a lot worse. We could have had eight dead police officers," Reuters reported. Hundreds had taken to the streets demanding justice for Theo, protesting against police brutality after 22-year-old Theo was beaten and sodomised with a baton. The attack itself happened last Thursday. The police say that four officers stopped to speak to a group of about twelve people "after hearing calls characteristic of lookouts at drug dealing sites", The Guardian quotes the prosecutor's office as saying. They attempted to arrest the 22-year-old man, who has no criminal record, and when he allegedly resisted they used teargas and "one of them used an expandable baton", the Guardian reports the prosecutor's office as saying. The four policemen, who all deny the charges, were suspended. One was charged with rape and the other three with unnecessary violence. According to media reports, Theo suffered severe anal injuries and required surgery. He also suffered injuries to the head and face, Al Jazeera reported. President Francois Hollande visited the victim in the hospital, The Guardian reports. Policemen stand next to a graffiti reading "fuck the police" in front of the local police station in Aulnay-sous-Bois, northern Paris, on February 6, 2017. (AFP) × The Wreckage of a burnt car is seen in photo taken on February 7, 2017 after protesters burnt cars and garbage bins in one of the main streets of the Rose des Vents district in Aulnay-sous-Bois. (AFP) × (WION)

Violence erupts in Paris suburb over police brutality

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France mulls ban on police images, alarming rights defenders

Violence erupts in Paris suburb over police brutality