PARIS (Reuters) – A Reuters camera operator filming a protest in the centre of Paris on Saturday was knocked to the ground by a police officer and sustained injuries.
Video of the incident recorded by the camera operator, Clotaire Achi, showed a small group of protesters standing still and shouting at police in riot gear who were positioned a few metres (yards) away.
The police rushed towards the protesters, and one officer carrying a baton and shield charged directly towards Achi, knocking him to the ground, the footage showed.
Achi sustained an injury to his shoulder and right arm, and a doctor signed him off work for a week.
The Reuters camera operator was wearing an arm-band carrying the French word “Presse” in large letters.
A Reuters spokesperson said: “We strongly object to the police assault of a Reuters journalist in Paris this weekend and will address the situation with the authorities.”
“Journalists must be allowed to report the news in the public interest without fear of harassment or harm, wherever they are,” the spokesperson said.
Asked to comment on the incident, a representative of the Paris police department said: “Anyone who believes themselves to be a victim of violence by law enforcement can, to good effect, lodge a complaint with the relevant authorities.”
The protest, at the Place de la Republique in central Paris, was called over allegations of police brutality, and to oppose a proposed new law that will make it harder for journalists to share images of police officers.
The past year has seen a number of incidents worldwide of journalists being targeted and hurt by police while they are reporting on protests, including ones that erupted around the United States after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Two members of a Reuters TV crew were hit by rubber bullets and injured at a protest in Minneapolis in May.
In France, freelance photographer Ameer al-Halbi was hit in the face with a police truncheon and suffered a broken nose while reporting on a protest against the proposed legislation on Nov. 28, according to campaign group Reporters Without Borders.
Asked to comment on that incident, the Paris police department did not respond.
(Additional reporting by Jean-Michel Belot; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Nick Tattersall)
