Paris prosecutors not to pursue police violence case

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - Prosecutors in Paris on Thursday decided not to pursue last year's police violence case stemming from pension reform protests.

An Anadolu Agency photojournalist, Mustafa Yalcin, was seriously injured in the eye when a plastic bomb used by the security forces hit him in the face, breaking his mask on Dec. 5, 2019.

Yalcin was sent a notice explaining the decision. He has the right to appeal the decision.

The prosecutors said Yalcin was injured as a result of the plastic bomb used by police, but the photojournalist was not directly targeted by police.

Prosecutors said direct violence against the police by protesters was clear in the footage on the internet and in other investigations.

The police involvement in the protests was not illegal and disproportionate, they added.

*Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak in Ankara