On January 8, 2022, around 2,000 people gathered in Lyon against the government’s vaccination pass project. “I remember it like it was yesterday. My children talk to me about it every day, ”slips Kady, 38. This resident of an apartment located on the 3rd floor of rue Romarin (1st arrondissement), near Place des Terreaux in the city center, did not attend the rally. Yet she and her family are “scarred for life,” in her words. “A CRS fired a tear gas canister at my house,” she sums up in one sentence. “The rocket,” as her daughter called it upon seeing her enter, landed in the children’s room.
“My two youngest were in the living room and I was in my bedroom. The whole apartment was smoky, continues the mother. We took refuge on the landing. I couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t understand what was going on. I was so scared. Especially for the life of my daughters. I thought of poor Zineb Redouane. This time it could have been us. It was our turn. »
After the fact, this Lyonnaise filed a complaint for “destruction of property” and “involuntary injury”. The IGPN had also been seized by the prosecutor. Nearly a year and a half later, Kady has just learned that neither of the two investigations would go any further. The complaint was filed without further action.
“The policeman can continue his life quietly, him”
On the letter dated January 11, 2023 – which the complainant claims never to have received and which she discovered two weeks ago after a follow-up from her lawyer to the prosecutor’s office – it is written that “the evidence is not not sufficient […] so that criminal proceedings can be instituted”.
An answer that the victim does not understand. “The images are however formal,” she says. A surfer filmed the whole scene from outside. The policeman used a dangerous weapon. And he will never suffer any consequences for his actions. He can continue his life quietly, ”she laments. Before adding: “Fortunately, no one was killed or injured that day. But it’s as if I’ve been psychologically dead since. She wants to challenge this decision, feeling she is the victim of injustice.
His lawyer, Maître Laure Bret, specifies that a compensation procedure is in progress with “agreement in principle” and that in parallel, a request for a copy of the criminal investigation had been made. “In this type of case, it is extremely rare that criminal sanctions are imposed,” she says. My client still hoped for recognition, even symbolic. For her, as for the other cases. Especially in the face of the psychological shock that these events can cause. »
Let justice be done “
Since January 8, 2022, no one wants to sleep in the room “which recalls horror” and “awakens trauma”. The pierced window was immediately changed but the impacts of the grenade are still visible in the room. “It is up to the tenant to take the steps to repair them. The service provider is at his disposal, “says Alliade Habitat. Kady denies. “No one answers me when I call,” she says.
In any case, this Atsem (territorial agent specialized in nursery schools) wants to leave this accommodation which she has lived in since 2010. “I no longer feel safe here”, she insists. Problem, no T6 or T5 is available in the chosen sectors. “We suggested to the applicant to broaden her request to the 8th arrondissement. What she refused, ”says the social landlord. Again, the Lyonnaise refutes. “Why would I do that knowing that’s exactly where I work?” I am ready to accept anything. »
With the media coverage of his case, initially by Street89 then by BFM, this 38-year-old woman hopes that “justice will be done” and that there will be “awareness”. As a reminder, four years after the death of Zineb Redouane in Marseille, no one has been charged or suspended, as pointed out Amnesty International.