France bans citizen journalists from reporting police brutality at 3arabawy

France bans citizen journalists from reporting police brutality

Published by Hossam el-Hamalawy March 7th, 2007 in Activism, Bloggers, France, Human Rights حقوق إنسان

What could one expect from a country of racist/corrupt/asshole butchers like Sarkouzi and Le Pen, except this…

The French Constitutional Council has approved a law that criminalizes the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than professional journalists. The law could lead to the imprisonment of eyewitnesses who film acts of police violence, or operators of Web sites publishing the images, one French civil liberties group warned on Tuesday.

Click on the cartoon below to read the full report…

France should be added to the black list of the enemies of the internet and civil liberties. The more I read about this country’s security services, their pioneering role in founding the modern school of interrogation under torture, their treatment of foreigners and refugees, as well as demonstrators and activists… the more I understand why Mubarak and Chirac are such good friends. Actually my sources in the Brown House confirmed Le Habib d’ Adly et Le Moufid du Shehab have played a crucial role in drafting the French legislation.

To citizen-journalists in France: You have my absolute solidarity against this Nazi law… And if you fear any legal consequences, I would like to assure you that there are many in the Egyptian blogosphere (including myself) who are ready to post any French police brutality videos you send us.

By the way, I think my fellow Egyptians would also be interested to know that the Egyptian Central Security Forces, which beat the shit out us in demonstrations, were actually established after Nasser’s security services were impressed by the role the French riot police (known as the CRS) played in suppressing the French students and workers intifada in May 1968.

Thanks France, keep on spreading your bloody liberty around the world…

9 Responses to “France bans citizen journalists from reporting police brutality”

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1 alzaher Mar 7th, 2007 at 2:22 pm

arent you a little harsh on the french, i mean yes ofcourse they have a long history of torture,but still they gave us the french revolution’s principles as well as the concept of a civil state ,and one more thing there were no central security forces till nasser’s death in 1970,now they are about 450,000
2 Hossam el-Hamalawy Mar 7th, 2007 at 2:39 pm

Nasser’s regime did not have riot police troops equipped to combat demos, because there was hardly any street dissent from 1954 to February 1968, when the students and Helwan workers demonstrations broke out following the light sentences given to the Air Force senior brass. These demonstrations were followed by more militant ones in Alexandria in Nov ‘68.
There were discussions among Nasser’s security services’ leaders (many of whom their memoirs are published) about the need for riot-control police. Then, the experience of the French May was cited several times by people like General Talaat, Shaarawi Gomaa, and others, as a model. The actual establishment of the CSF was under Sadat, who took over the presidency after Nasser’s sudden death in Sept ‘70.

Re: “harsh on the french”… I’m critical of the french govt (which I think is much worse than the american govt) not the french people.. That’s why I’m willing to help out any french activist who wants to campaign against this draconian law, and I’m willing to post whatever videos they are willing to leak to the egyptian blogosphere if they fear persecution.
3 alzaher Mar 7th, 2007 at 5:23 pm

why do you beleive it is worst than the american goverment? chirac’s regime opposed the war on iraq in 2003
4 Salamander Mar 7th, 2007 at 5:34 pm

Putting history aside, down to any government that restricts all those who want to expose the truth. I put my voice with Hamalawy here in supporting any blogger who wants to expose the truth.
5 Alaa Mar 7th, 2007 at 9:09 pm

that would actually be a great way of promoting the Egyptian blogosphere.

let’s publish a general call to French citizens that brave Egyptian bloggers have a long history of covering violence and we are willing to help them.
6 pepa Mar 8th, 2007 at 12:59 am

“a country of racist/corrupt/asshole butchers” of course it is not FRANCE!

i am really shocked, such a law could be issued in Syria, Egypt or Jordon.
7 Alif Mar 8th, 2007 at 1:20 am

…I would like to assure you that there are many in the Egyptian blogosphere (including myself) who are ready to post any French police brutality videos you send us.

Yes. Absolutely. That’s what bloggers (read: brothers) are for We can set uploading facilities on our sites and publish what they upload to them, after setting a simple protocol.

However, Don’t think it’s the technicalities of publishing that are the problem. Most video and photo hosting services can be dealt with by [almost] anonymous accounts, and more anonymity can be achieved using the proper techniques.

This would be feasible if the law criminalises photographing and publishing, but not linking to what’s already on the web.

Rather, it’s the existance of the law itself that matters, and needs to be acted upon by liberties activists in the streets.
8 Alif Mar 8th, 2007 at 3:52 pm

Good morning freedom
Turkish court bans youTube

Apparently someone used it to say that a figure, who is a little more important than god, was gay.
9 Ms .45 Mar 9th, 2007 at 4:00 am

The way this is being reported in my country is that the law is to prevent shitheads assaulting others and filming it for enjoyment, like Bumfights.

France bans ‘happy slapping’

In Australia we had a particularly horrific case recently where some teenagers at a not particularly reputable school assaulted a girl and not only filmed it, but made a fairly professional looking DVD out of it. There is a fairly spectacular missing of the point of stuff like Jackass, which is that the Jackass “stars” perform violence on themselves, voluntarily.

I eagerly await governments bringing in laws against “being a fuckwit”.

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