“Knowledge in prison prevents me from sleeping”, assures Frédéric Veaux. In an interview at Parisian posted sunday july 23rd, the director general of the national police (DGPN) expressed his support for the police officer placed in pre-trial detention in Marseille after his indictment, as well as three of his colleagues from the anti-crime brigade (BAC), for “violence in meetings by a person holding public authority with the use or threat of a weapon”. They are suspected of having beaten a 21-year-old man on the night of 1er July 2, when the city was in the throes of violent riots following the death of Nahel M.
“In general, I consider that before a possible trial, a police officer has no place in prison, even if he may have committed serious faults or errors in the course of his work. I exclude from my discussion matters concerning probity or honesty, explains Frédéric Veaux. But when a police officer is in the exercise of his mission, we must admit that he can make errors of assessment. The police officer must account for his action, including before the courts, but we must also take into account the guarantees from which he benefits and which distinguish him from criminals or thugs. »
The DGPN, who visited the Marseille police on Saturday and said “understanding emotion and anger”, calls to “take into consideration the difficulties of exercising the profession and the general context in which the police are called upon to act”. “During the riots, the police often intervened in a context of total chaos. We cannot escape from this context,” he wishes to recall.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back”
The police unions have since Friday castigated the pre-trial detention of one of their own. “Pretrial detention is an exceptional measure that applies to both citizens and police officers”said the unions Alliance and UNSA, in a press release with terms almost identical to those of the Union of Police Commissioners. “Each time they have to report to justice, the police are referred to their individual responsibility, without ever questioning their administration”for its part deplored the Unit-SGP Police-FO union, calling on all police officers in France to « get into 562 »that is to say, only carrying out essential missions.
“An investigation is going to be done. If they are at fault, they will be punished. But pre-trial detention is the straw that breaks the camel’s back”added Rudy Manna, of the Alliance union, referring to ” Several dozens “ Marseille police “on sick leave or burnout”.
So far, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) has taken up at least 21 investigations, “of very different nature and severity”, on the actions of the police during the demonstrations and violence that followed the death of Nahel M., said on July 12 the head of the IGPN, Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre. Several legal investigations are also underway. In Marseilles in particular, another investigation relates to the death of a young man of 27 years, probably after a “violent shock to the chest” caused by a projectile “Flash-Ball Type”during the same night of 1er to July 2.