A brutal arrest during a peaceful march against police violence has again put French law and order under the spotlight, as the government, fearing further unrest, banned fireworks outside authorized displays during the Bastille Day holiday weekend, The Guardian wrote on Monday.
Amid continuing tensions after rioting sparked by last month’s fatal shooting of a teenager, police faced further accusations of brutality on Sunday when video emerged of the arrest of the brother of a black man who died in custody seven years ago, the daily added.
“Youssouf Traoré, 29, was forcefully tackled to the ground and held face-down by officers from a controversial rapid reaction force, BRAV-M, at an unauthorized march on Saturday in memory of his brother Adama, who died aged 24 in 2016.”
The arrest at the march, which brought an estimated 2,000 protesters together in central Paris, and other images of demonstrators being violently pushed by officers were filmed by several witnesses and spread rapidly on social media, says The Guardian. Almost 100 associations, unions and left wing parties including the Greens and Unbowed France had urged demonstrators across France to demand “a profound reform of the police, its intervention techniques and its weapons.”
At least two journalists said they, too, were mishandled by the police during the Paris march. Left wing politicians – several of whom attended the demonstration – on Sunday denounced the brutality on display.
Tensions in France have been simmering since a police officer shot dead Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old with Algerian roots, during a traffic stop on 27 June in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, prompting six days of widespread rioting from Lille to Marseille.
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