A draft law that would make it a crime to circulate an image of a police officer in certain circumstances passed the first hurdle in France's parliament on Tuesday despite protests from rights activitsts and journalists.
"The aim is not to prevent anyone from filming or broadcasting images that shed a light on a fact or a public event," said Castex, who will hold talks with journalists' unions this week.
In a nod to the opposition, Castex said the government would present the bill to the Constitutional Council to verify that it is in line with the constitution. Opposition parties often appeal to the council over disputed bills.
The French senate, controlled by the conservative opposition, will vote on the bill in January, after which it can go back to parliament for a final vote.
Friday’s commemorations came as France remained on high alert after three recent attacks by Islamist extremists, including the beheading of high-school teacher Samuel Paty and the killing of three people in a church in Nice.
In 2015, the first attack happened at 9.15pm on Friday 13 November outside the Stade de France during an international football match. Shortly afterwards, another group of heavily armed terrorists drove around the capital’s trendy districts north of the Seine shooting at crowded bars, cafés and restaurants.
Another group stormed the Bataclan during a concert attended by 1,500 people, taking members of the audience hostage and killing 90 people.
Ten months earlier, in January 2015, terrorists had killed 12 people in an attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after it published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad considered offensive to Muslims. In the following two days, five more people were killed by a terrorist gunman, including four people at a Jewish supermarket.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has recently come under fierce criticism for proposing a new law on “Islamist separatism”. The Élysée says the legislation –to be presented to the Assemblée Nationale at the beginning of next month – is aimed at strengthening the country’s secular traditions and preventing the radicalisation of future terrorists. Critics have accused the president and government of targeting the wider Muslim community.
After Paty’s killing, police raided the homes of individuals and offices of a number of Muslim organisations that had no link to the murder in order to “send a message”, according to interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, who also announced the Collective Against Islamophobia in France was being disbanded.
As protests against Macron erupted in many Islamic countries, including Bangladesh and Iran, along with threats to boycott French goods, Darmanin provoked further outrage by questioning why supermarkets had specific halal and kosher food sections.
On Friday, Franck Riester, a delegate minister in charge of foreign trade and economic attractiveness, told foreign journalists this comment was Darmanin’s “personal” view. He insisted the government was not targeting French Muslims and hit back at criticism of its response to the terrorist attacks.
“France is under attack and as we have seen so is Austria and some Islamic countries, so this is a common fight against terrorism,” Riester said.
“We will continue to defend its citizens and those on its soil and defend our values and will not be influenced or pressured by anyone. I absolutely don’t accept the position of those who say this (terrorism) is France’s fault or the fruit of its politics and choices. That’s the world turned upside down.”
Since you’re here ...
site : https://pcds.instructure.com/eportfolios/1941/Home/BRONX_2020_Streaming_VF_Francais_Gratuit
... we have a small favour to ask. Millions are flocking to the Guardian for open, independent, quality news every day, and readers in 180 countries, including France, around the world now support us financially.
We believe everyone deserves access to information that’s grounded in science and truth, and analysis rooted in authority and integrity. That’s why we made a different choice: to keep our reporting open for all readers, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay. This means more people can be better informed, united, and inspired to take meaningful action.
In these perilous times, an independent, truth-seeking global news organisation like the Guardian is essential. We have no shareholders or billionaire owner, meaning our journalism is free from commercial and political influence – this makes us different. When it’s never been more pertinent, our independence allows us to fearlessly investigate, challenge and expose those in power.
Amid the various intersecting crises of 2020 – from Covid-19 to police brutality – the Guardian has not, and will never, sideline the climate emergency. We are determined to uphold our reputation for producing urgent, powerful, high-impact reporting on the environment that’s read by around the world.
We’ve made institutional progress too, working hard to live up to the climate promises we made in 2019. We no longer take advertising from fossil fuel companies, and we’re on course to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.
If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Your funding powers our journalism, it protects our independence, and ensures we can remain open for all. You can support us through these challenging economic times and enable real-world impact.
Every contribution, however big or small, makes a real difference for our future. Support the Guardian from as little as €1 – it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The number of confirmed new Covid-19 cases and deaths in France rose sharply in the last 24 hours, according to French health ministry data published Saturday as a number of European countries announced new restrictions to stem a deadly second wave.
France registered 32,095 new Covid-19 cases over the previous 24 hours to reach a total of 1,954,599. Deaths in hospitals in France from Covid-19 rose by 359 over the previous 24 hours to reach a total of 44,246 so far, according to French health ministry figures.
The rise in infections and deaths in France came as a swathe of new restrictions were announced or came into force in a number of European countries.
Schools to close in Austria and Greece
Austria on Saturday announced schools and non-essential shops would close from Tuesday, just two weeks after a partial lockdown was imposed.
"There are still many who say that infections don't happen at school, in shops or services," Chancellor Sebastien Kurtz told a news conference.
"But the truth is the authorities can no longer trace 77 percent of new infections, which means they no longer know where contamination is happening."
Greece, battling a saturated national health system, announced it would shut all schools after imposing a nationwide night curfew from Friday.
"Closing elementary schools was the last thing we wanted to do. This is a measure of how serious the situation is," Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias said. Secondary schools had already been shuttered.
In Italy, the regions of Tuscany and Campania – of which Florence and Naples are the respective capitals – plunged into "red zones" of tough restrictions, which now cover 26 million of the 60 million population.
"There is no other way if we want to reduce the numbers of dead," Health Minister Roberto Speranza said, as the country's death toll rose by 544 to 44,683, one of Europe's worst.
New anti-virus curbs also came into force in Ukraine on Saturday, with all non-essential businesses ordered closed for the weekend.
'Don't kill the economy'
There were protests in several Germans cities against enforced mask-wearing, with police saying they used water cannon to disperse nearly 1,000 people in Frankfurt.
France's Riviera resort of Nice saw 1,500 take to the streets to demand a more coherent set of restrictions to fight the disease.
French restaurant and bar owners announced legal action against government measures which closed them from the end of October.
Hundreds of demonstrators also turned out in Portugal, defying a weekend curfew imposed on seven out of every 10 of the population of 10 million.
The curfew bans driving on public roads after 1 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he had agreed to a proposal by the Paris police chief to immediately refer the issue to the National Police Inspectorate General (IGPN), which investigates officers' conduct.
The government is already facing a storm of criticism over a new security law that opponents say will erode the accountability of the police.
Officers used tear gas to dismantle the Paris camp, which was set up to protest against earlier forced evacuations of hundreds of migrants from other camps.
"They are too violent," said Shahbuddin, a 34-year-old Afghan, crying after being evicted. "We just want a roof."
Police later used tear gas and rough tactics, with videos posted on social media showing one officer tripping a man as he ran, and another officer slamming into a man who tried to intervene.
The controversy comes a week after migrants were evacuated from makeshift shelters in the northern suburb of Saint-Denis, including some who were provided with alternative shelter.
"The state has made a lamentable show," Ian Brossat, a Paris deputy mayor in charge of housing, told AFP.
CFDT trade union chief Laurent Berger told France 2 TV that the actions of the police were "scandalous and astounding".
"People occupy a square peacefully with tents, simply because they have a housing problem, they are not harming anyone. And there is this intervention which is totally disproportionate," he said.
Paris's Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote a letter to Darmanin denouncing the "brutal and disproportionate use of force" by the security forces, which she said was "unfortunately not without precedent" in the city.
Darmanin said he had asked for a report from Paris police chief Didier Lallement by midday and would take decisions based on its findings.
Opponents say the law - steered through parliament by tough-talking Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin - would hamper journalists' freedom to report on public events and make it harder to hold officers accountable if they use excessive force.
Supporters say the planned law is designed to protect officers and their families from being trolled online and harassed or attacked when off duty.
Under the plans, anyone convicted of circulating a police officer's image with the intention of seeing them harmed could be jailed for a year and fined 45,000 euros ($53,450).
Despite the bill being proposed by two lawmakers from President Emmanuel Macron's centrist La République en Marche (LaRem) party, 10 LaRem members of parliament voted against it and 30 abstained. From LaRem ally MoDem, five MPs voted against it and 18 abstained.
https://unemm23nem.medium.com/live-macron-addresses-the-nation-on-path-out-of-lockdown-c81274fa6568
