Paris (France) (AFP) – The management of the AFP denounced on Friday "the violence committed by the police against its journalists during the demonstrations" of the high school movement and against the high cost of living, after several of them received baton blows or even an LBD shot.
Published on: 06/11/2026 - 18:46 Modified on: 06/11/2026 - 19:07
On Thursday, an AFP photographer, who was wearing his press armband, was injured in Lyon during a charge by the police against the head of a procession of demonstrators, receiving five baton blows, including three on his helmet and two on the lower part of one leg. He suffered a fractured fibula.
On October 17, a journalist and editor was injured in the thigh by an LBD shot in Lille, while he was also wearing his press armband.
That same day, a video journalist was deliberately targeted with a water cannon in Paris, with colleagues from other media clearly identified like her, before receiving a baton blow the next day.
The management of Agence France-Presse says it is "aware of the difficult conditions in which the police sometimes act", but "it considers it essential that the quality of journalist be taken into account during interventions".
The AFP “requests that all precautions be taken to preserve their physical integrity and enable them to accomplish their mission.”
“The possibility for journalists to observe, photograph and film demonstrations and law enforcement operations constitutes an essential dimension of their information mission,” insists the agency.
Journalists' unions and press defense NGOs have denounced the violence to which reporters have been victims since the start of the movement.
Requested by AFP, RSF said it had identified, not counting Thursday, 58 cases of journalists obstructed in covering the ongoing mobilizations, including 18 by demonstrators or third-party individuals, and 40 by members of the police. Of these 58 cases of obstruction, 35 are cases of physical violence, including 21 by law enforcement officers.
A reporter from Politis and a photographer from the Divergences collective, for their part, announced Friday via their lawyer that they were going to file a complaint after being beaten by members of the police during the Thursday demonstration that they were covering in Paris.
© 2026 AFP
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