At the Assize Court of Seine-Saint-Denis,
According to the accused, the trial would never have taken place if the victim had been more docile with the police. “Why did he get involved in an inspection that didn’t concern him? », Marc-Antoine C. continues to ask himself, questioned this Wednesday at the bar of the Seine-Saint-Denis Assize Court. When they wanted to question him, Théo Luhaka “struggled and never deigned to stop,” he whispers.
Black suit, gray sweater, black glasses, bald head, the policeman claims to regret the serious injury inflicted on the young man during this operation. But, he said, all the blows he gave him were legitimate and were only intended to “make him fall to the ground”. With the exception, he concedes, of a “hand gesture”, a slap given out of anger, while the victim was handcuffed.
At the time of the events, Marc-Antoine C. had been a police officer for four years. He served two years in the BST and two years in emergency police. His experience was “fairly limited,” he admits. “But we knew our missions. » He and his colleagues had to patrol “certain sensitive areas” of Aulnay-sous-Bois, known for their problems with “violence and snatching”. That day, they decided to go “on their own initiative” to a “deal point” in order to control the people present. He assures the president, Jadis Pomeau, that they did not come to “fight” with the young people who were there. “We’re not here to beat people up,” he insists. The police officer then wears his law enforcement outfit. In his leather belt are his firearm, his handcuffs and his telescopic defense baton.
A blow to “the upper thigh, under the crease of the buttock”
He gets out of the car, baton in hand. The police take care not to receive “projectiles” which could be thrown “from the windows”. “It’s a difficult city, we’ve already been taken advantage of,” adds the accused. According to him, this neighborhood, plagued by drug trafficking, “is nicknamed cop killer, they hate us.”
Marc-Antoine C. says he began “to quickly feel a first person”, “a North African individual dressed in black”. Another young person, who was nearby, was “very sarcastic, provocative”. “He didn’t want to be controlled and he showed his displeasure. Looking back, I think he had something to be ashamed of. » This young man “puts his head against mine”. He “put the palm of his hand on his face” to push him away but did not “slap” him.
That’s when Théo arrives and grabs him “at the collar.” “I can’t break away from his grip. » His colleague intervenes “and everything goes very quickly”. The young man “is very brutal”. “It is highly possible” that Marc-Antoine C. received a blow from the victim. Another police officer “falls to the ground” and Théo “steps” on him. This official “is quite strong and he does not get up”.
The accused then takes out the telescopic stick that he had stored, and strikes “on the muscular masses” of the victim “with the aim of stopping the action” of Théo, who is struggling. He tries to make him “fall to the ground” so that “he lets himself be challenged”. “That’s why I gave a thrust” to “the upper thigh, under the crease of the buttock.” The situation is “stressful” and Marc-Antoine C. is “obsessed with the defense” of his colleague.
Théo “got lost a little in his lie”
Théo collapses after receiving this “thrust”. At the time, Marc-Antoine C. did not have the “feeling” of having seriously injured the young man, who was on the ground, and who “never expressed pain”. He believes that the blow, taught in the police academy, was “proportional to the danger” and was “not disproportionate”. Since then, he thinks “every day” about Théo’s injury and swears he “prayed for him to recover”. “Not because it’s in my best interest, because I caused a distressing injury without intending to do so, I really don’t. »
“After handcuffing him, you take him towards the wall, why? », asks the president. To avoid being in the field of surveillance cameras? “We are in the city of 3,000. There are people everywhere around, who can get closer. It’s about checking that we are in a good situation to reach the vehicle,” replies the accused. Théo, recalls the magistrate, always described this police officer as being “the most violent” of the three. “I think he got a little lost in his lie and is blaming me. I’m not particularly virulent. I caused him a serious injury, I am aware of that. But I think that subsequently there is an intention to harm me, “he is bad”. »
“I never wanted this injury”
Once in the car, Théo sits in the back, between two officials. Marc-Antoine C. assures that he did not insult him, nor did he hold him so that his colleague could hit him. Arriving at the police station, the victim “bleeds from the nose but has no difficulty walking”. The accused swears not to have seen the traces of blood on the seat where the arrested person was.
Contrary to what Théo asserts, “there is no trophy story there,” the accused also corrects. He is seated on a bench and “taken care of by a peace officer who notices that he is injured in the buttocks”. The accused also assures that his colleague did not take a photo of the young man, even if this is done “sometimes” after an intervention. “There is no Snap story,” he insists. There is no interest. »
Seven years after the events, Marc-Antoine C. explains that he is still being followed by a psychologist. “I am very stressed, I am sent before a criminal court, I risk a significant sentence. Right now I’m taking anxiolytics and painkillers. I never intended to cause this, really not. » He does not understand why Théo “got involved in an inspection that did not concern him”. He knows that the victim’s relatives “are angry with me”. “I am well aware of it but really, I never wanted this injury. I have always shown empathy. Every day I thought about how we could treat her. I sympathize with your pain even if you hate me. »