French Lower Parliamentary House Passes Disputed Security Bill In Final Reading

France's National Assembly, the lower chamber of the country's parliament, adopted on Thursday the controversial global security bill, which prompted mass rallies across the country, in the final reading

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2021) France's National Assembly, the lower chamber of the country's parliament, adopted on Thursday the controversial global security bill, which prompted mass rallies across the country, in the final reading.

The document, which has been significantly revised since the first reading in the house, was adopted in a 75-33 vote.

The legislation sailed through the first reading in the National Assembly in November 2020, which resulted in mass protests throughout France, marked by numerous detentions, arrests, and violent clashes. The lower chamber has since proposed to amend the controversial Article 24 of the bill, which entails a year-long imprisonment and 45,000 euro (nearly $54,000) fine for the dissemination of photos and videos of police officers with "an intent to harm them," a clause that critics of the bill claimed to be a threat to press freedom and journalists' ability to report on cases of police brutality during demonstrations.

The article was thus amended by the parliament's upper house, which described the distribution of images of police officers with an intention or "provocation" to identify them "with the obvious purpose of undermining the physical or mental integrity of a law enforcement officer" as an offense penalized by imprisonment of up to five years and a 75,000 euro fine.