France bans police chokeholds amid anger over death of George Floyd

France’s interior minister says police will no longer conduct chokeholds that have been blamed for multiple cases of asphyxiation and prompted new criticism after George Floyd’s death.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced Monday that “the method of seizing the neck via strangling will be abandoned and will no longer be taught in police schools.”

He spoke out as the French government comes under increasing pressure to address brutality and racism within the police force.

Immobilization techniques where officers apply pressure with their knees on prone suspects are used in policing around the world and have long drawn criticism. French lawmakers have called for such practices to be banned.

People attend a public memorial after the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, US, June 4, 2020. (Reuters)

At least 23,000 people protested in cities around France on Saturday against racial injustice and police brutality, even defying a police ban on such protests in Paris due to fears about spreading coronavirus.

Activists marched Monday in the western city of Nantes, and more demonstrations are planned in France on Tuesday, when Floyd is being buried.

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