After police are filmed beating a black man, France does a U-turn
A gagging bill that could shield cops is being revised
AT 6.42PM ON November 21st, three policemen forced their way into a recording studio in a smart area of Paris and savagely beat up Michel Zecler, a black record producer. Pursued for not wearing a face mask, Mr Zecler initially spent 48 hours in detention for violence against the police, and says that during the beating he was called a “sale nègre (dirty negro)”. On November 30th, four days after a surveillance video of his beating was posted on social media, contradicting the officers’ account, preliminary charges were brought against the three, for intentional violence and the falsification of police records. All have been suspended.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “A screeching U-turn”
From the December 5th 2020 edition
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