France: Citizen Protest Forces Change in 'Global Security Law'

Christophe Castaner, the president of the parliamentary group "The Republic on the Move" (LREM), announced that French lawmakers will once again "rewrite" Article 24 of the "Global Security" law.

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This announcement was made after a meeting between President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Jean Castex, Gerald Darmanin, and the chairmen of the majority parliamentary groups, as reported by Huffington Post.

During the past week, the controversy surrounding the global security bill increased in intensity due to protests over the brutal attack by four police officers on music producer Michel Zecler.

Journalists and defenders of public freedom have denounced that this law will have dire consequences for the protection of human rights because it prohibits public dissemination of videos in which the behavior of members of the French security forces can be observed.

"We are proposing a complete rewrite of Article 24 ... because we are determined to protect our police forces and to do so without ambiguity," lawmaker Castaner said.

"However, we are also willing to clear up doubts and misunderstandings about the legal norm approved in the first instance," he added.

On Saturday, over 500,000 people took to the streets to protest against that Global Security bill across the country. In Paris, there were some violent clashes between citizens and the police.

The following day, three of the four policemen who attacked Zecler were accused of "voluntary violence" and of "lying in a public deed," as requested by the Paris Prosecutor's Office.

The policeman who threw a tear gas grenade into the musician's studio was also charged with "voluntary violence" against Zecler and nine young men who were at that time in the basement of the building.