Thousands of French nationals have thronged the capital city Paris to protest against the maltreatment of a black man, Michel Zecler, who was pummeled by white cops on Thursday for breaching COVID-19 safety protocols.

Mr. Zecler, a 41-year-old music producer, was seen in a viral video being battered and subjected to racial slurs by police officers for not wearing a mask, multiple French newspapers reported.

Although the officers have been suspended and taken into custody for investigation, many aggrieved citizens took to the streets on Saturday to demonstrate against police brutality, Qatari news network Aljazeera reported.

The protesters also rallied against a controversial security bill (Article 24), which prohibits citizens from sharing images of police officers on duty, the newspaper said.

The proposed law — widely considered as draconian — could see offenders sentenced to up to a year in jail, and fined 45,000 euros ($53,000) for filming police officers.

The bill has since been endorsed by the country’s junior parliament, but would be implemented upon ratification by the Senate.

Anti-police brutality protests had earlier been staged in Nigeria, Germany and Uganda, with thousands of campaigners condemning the excessive use of force by law enforcement agents.