The Keeper of the Seals, Éric Dupond-Moretti, had ordered the prosecutor’s office on March 18 to provide a “systematic and rapid criminal response” in the event of excesses in the demonstrations. It seems he has been heard. A 30-year-old man was indeed sentenced on Wednesday by the Besançon court to three years in prison for having struck a police officer on the head with a skateboard, on the sidelines of a demonstration against the pension reform.
The Keeper of the Seals had invited the magistrates to request “additional penalties to avoid the repetition of the facts”. “The penalties of prohibition of residence […] or a ban on appearing in certain places seem particularly appropriate,” he said. “Judging in the emotion of the moment is rarely a good thing”, analyzed the lawyer, while admitting the “objective seriousness of the facts with regard to the police officer”, whose injuries required 18 stitches.
Incarcerated after hearing
The alleged facts took place Monday evening, on the sidelines of a demonstration against the pension reform, and were filmed by the local media Media 25. The images posted on Facebook show a policeman trying to arrest a protester alone, before being unbalanced, falling to the ground and being kicked by a hooded young man with a skateboard.
Judged in immediate appearance, the defendant was imprisoned at the end of the hearing. He was also sentenced to a five-year ban from appearing in Franche-Comté, his lawyer, Me Julien Vernet, told AFP, confirming information from the regional daily. The Republican East. The defendant already had a “substantial” criminal record, according to his lawyer, with seven convictions. At the hearing, the defendant “fully acknowledged the facts and sincerely apologized”, indicated Me Vernet. The prosecutor, Etienne Manteaux, had requested a two-year prison sentence with a warrant of committal. Sentenced, the 30-year-old has 10 days to appeal.