Decision not to proceed with charges against Hugo Clément and colleagues comes after intervention by French ambassador to Australia

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Queensland police have dropped charges against four French journalists arrested while filming an Adani protest on Monday, after the French ambassador to Australia intervened on their behalf.

Guardian Australia understands the ambassador, Christophe Penot, made direct representations to Queensland officials on behalf of the four men, who were charged with trespassing on a railway while filming the protest outside the Abbot Point coal terminal.

Hugo Clément, well-known in Europe for his environmental reporting, was among the group filming a documentary for public station France 2. He posted on social media on Thursday afternoon that he had learned from the French embassy in Australia the charges would be dropped.

Hugo Clément (@hugoclement) The French embassy in Australia just informed me that Queensland’s police decided to drop the (unfair) charges against us, after our arrest during an anti-Adani protest. We don’t have to go to court in september.

The charges included bail conditions that the group not go within 20km of the Carmichael coalmine site; conditions that were branded an “abuse of power” and an inappropriate attempt by police to shield corporate interests from scrutiny.

Clement tweeted his thanks to the Australian journalists’ union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), and to those who supported them during the week.

In a statement, the Queensland police, who previously refused to comment on their actions in the case, confirmed they would drop the charges against the journalists and another man. Two protesters, whose bail conditions ban them from returning to the town of Bowen, will remain before the courts.

“The decision to withdraw charges follows careful consideration of the circumstances including QPS policies and procedures,” the statement said.

It also follows significant public outcry about the arrests and decision to lay charges.

The MEAA and others had called upon the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, to intervene.