Twenty-three people with blind eyes were recorded by the AFP during the “yellow vest” movement in the winter of 2018-2019, victims of LBD 40 fire or grenade throwing. None obtained the conviction of the author of his injury. Only one trial took place, which ended in an acquittal, the other complaints being examined, stuck or closed.
As Vanessa Langard, injured on December 15, 2018 on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, said, they still had hope, which kept them “a little going”, of justice that would eventually pass. But five years later, she and her comrades in misfortune are still waiting, in these cases where the identification of the author of the injury and then the analysis of the legality of the intervention are cardinal.
Eleven investigations without indictment
According to information gathered by AFP from the complainants, their lawyers or the courts, out of the 23 cases at the time, no police officer or gendarme was convicted. Six classifications and two dismissals have already been pronounced, as for Hedi Bahrini, 45, who lost his left eye on December 1, 2018 in Puy-en-Velay: he learned in March 2022 of the death of the gendarme author of the dispersion grenade fire.
Eleven other investigations, including ten under the aegis of judges, are underway, without indictment. In several cases, those responsible for the injuries from the police seem to have been identified but the ballistic assessments are delayed or are disputed. “I have no news about the case or my lawyer, it’s nothing,” summarizes Alexandre Frey, struck by an LBD shot on December 8, 2019 in Paris.
“I know that justice is broken”
“These cases, where police officers can be implicated, […] are a little put aside,” laments Me Claire Dujardin, lawyer for Arthur, 29, who lost his eye on December 29, 2018 in Toulouse. “I know that justice is broken but […] Is she independent? », asks Olivier Fostier, blind in one eye on March 23, 2019 in Charleville-Mézières. “The important thing is to be recognized as a victim. It was involuntary,” he believes, while saying he wants the person who injured him with the grenade to “recognize” his act.
Legal disputes are a roller coaster for some, such as David Breidenstein, injured on March 16, 2019 in Paris: after the disappointment of the dismissal of the case, the joy of relaunching the case on appeal. Three other investigations in Paris and Rennes are, however, more advanced, with indictments. The blinding of Jérôme Rodrigues, a figure of the movement, could be judged by the Paris departmental criminal court. Two officials are indicted.
Only one blind person out of 23 benefited from a trial: Jean-Philippe, a 16-year-old high school student at the time, victim according to him of a “lost” LBD shot on December 6, 2018 in Béziers. On October 20, the police officer in question was acquitted with the benefit of the doubt. “I am surprised and shocked,” reacted the young man, now 21 years old. The public prosecutor appealed.