France council approves law to bar amateur journalists reporting on violence News
France council approves law to bar amateur journalists reporting on violence

[JURIST] The French Constitutional Council [official website] has upheld a law banning anyone other than professional reporters from filming or broadcasting acts of violence. Violators would face up to five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (US$98,537). French lawmakers say the ban, proposed by Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French; JURIST news archive], will help stamp out delinquency, but critics view it as attempt to suppress the free flow of information. Pascal Cohet, a spokesman for French online civil liberties group Odebi [advocacy website], said it was so broadly worded it could be used to prosecute witnesses who film acts of police violence. Reporters Without Borders [advocacy website] decried [press release] the law's potential to intimidate amateur "citizen journalists."

The French government has also proposed a system to certify news websites that follow certain rules as official government-approved sources of information. Reporters Without Borders warned the plan could encourage websites to suppress stories unfavorable to the government out of fear of losing their certification. IDG has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.