As many as 62 police officers were injured and 81 people were arrested at so-called “freedom marches” across France on Saturday, according to the country’s Interior Ministry.
Demonstrations took place throughout the country against a controversial new bill that would ban police images and increase surveillance.
The ministry said 23 of the arrests took place in Paris and the other 39 in other locations.
Several videos published on social networks appeared to show police officers being beaten by demonstrators at the events.
Two people that took part in protests that were not in the capital reported they had been injured to the General Inspectorate of Police (IGPN), police said.
Syrian freelance photographer, Ameer al Halbi, 24, who was covering the demonstration was injured in on his face, according to AFP.
Reporters Without Borders’ secretary-general, Christophe Deloire, denounced what he said was “unacceptable police violence” against Halbi.
A total of 133,000 people, 46,000 of them in Paris, took part in the protests, according to the Interior Ministry. Organisers put the figure at 500,000, with 200,000 of them in the capital.
What were demonstrators speaking out against?
The French parliament is currently examining article 24 of the National Security bill, which proposes criminalising the filming and publication of images of on-duty police officers.
Media groups in France say it could impact journalists covering police operations, while other critics fear it’s intended to dissuade citizens from holding the police accountable.
The organisers of the protests claim 500,000 took to streets throughout France, reporting 200,000 demonstrators in the capital Paris alone.
The StopLawSecurityGlobal coordination, which includes journalists’ unions and human rights groups, also denounced violent scenes that it said took place in Paris and Lyon after the end of the demonstration.
The protests came after video images of three police officers beating a black music producer inside his studio in Paris went viral this week, causing an outcry that saw politicians, footballers and millions of social media users express their disgust.
