France protests: man lost testicle after clashes with police – lawyer - The Guardian

Images and footage from Thursday’s demonstrations circulating online show a policeman hitting a man on the ground between the legs, and then leaving.

The incident occurred during a surge of violence at a mostly peaceful march attended by tens of thousands of people opposed to the government’s plan to raise the age of retirement.

The 26-year-old, identified in the French press as an engineer, said he was knocked to the ground, allegedly by an officer, while taking photos during a confrontation between demonstrators and police.

Lawyer Lucie Simon said she was filing a complaint on behalf of her client for “voluntary violence that led to mutilation by a person vested with public authority”.

The interior ministry said 80,000 people marched in Paris on Thursday, as part of nationwide protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to extend the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The 2020 beating and clubbing by three police officers of a Black music producer, Michel Zecler, as he left his Paris studio was a catalyst for limited reforms.