Four police officers suspected of having violently struck a young man in Marseille on the sidelines of the riots which followed the death of Nahel, in Nanterre, have been indicted, announced the prosecution which requested their placement in pre-trial detention. One of them has been remanded in custody. 20 minutes returns to these indictments and the acts of violence that occurred on the night of July 1 to 2.
What happened this Friday in Marseille?
This Friday, at the end of the police custody of eight police officers, four police officers were indicted for “violence in a meeting by a person holding public authority with the use or threat of a weapon resulting in an ITT (total incapacity for work) greater than 8 days “. One of them was taken into custody.
Why were these police officers charged?
Following the death of young Nahel, 17, killed by a police officer on Tuesday June 27 after refusing to comply during a road check in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), riots broke out in several cities in France including Paris, Lille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg and in particular Marseille.
After groups of young people sowed chaos the day before, the night of July 1 to 2 was the scene of new scenes of riots and the police carried out 95 arrests that night in the Marseille city. Violent clashes break out between rioters and police. Projectiles were fired, garbage cans were set on fire and many shopkeepers saw their store windows smashed and faced substantial looting. In an attempt to disperse the crowd, the police used tear gas. But faced with a tension that continues to grow, the Raid intervenes by making use of LBD and shoots at the gangs of young people.
That night, Hedi, a young man of 21, was injured. On his hospital bed, a few days after the events, he will explain that he was beaten up by a group of four to five people whom he had identified as police officers from the anti-crime squad, after having received an LBD shot in the temple. This violence resulted in an ITT (total incapacity for work) of more than eight days. On July 5, the prosecution will decide to open an investigation of the head of “violence in a meeting by a person holding public authority”.
Is there another investigation into police violence in Marseille?
Yes. Another investigation relates to the death of a 27-year-old young man, probably after a “violent shock to the chest” caused by a “Flash-Ball type” projectile in the city center of Marseille, during the same night. Mohamed Bendriss, married, father of a child and whose widow is expecting a second child, had lost his life after feeling unwell while riding a scooter. It was during his autopsy that the trace of what could be the impact of an LBD shot was spotted on his chest.
Where are the other investigations for police violence following the riots?
According to Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre, head of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), to date, the IGPN has taken up at least 21 investigations “of very different nature and seriousness” into the actions of the police during the demonstrations and violence following Nahel’s death. Among these investigations for “intentional violence”, one was opened after the complaint of a 51-year-old teacher, accusing two police officers of having assaulted her in Villetaneuse (Seine-Saint-Denis) on June 30. Pushed to the ground then handcuffed when she stopped in a place where a truck was burning, she was operated on for fractures of the tibia and fibula, according to her complaint.
Another concerns the complaint of a 24-year-old former soldier, accusing a police officer of having blinded him with an LBD shot on the evening of June 30 in Nanterre after the white march in tribute to Nahel. Finally, in the case of the Nanterre homicide, the police officer who killed Nahel on June 27 was also remanded in custody. Several legal investigations are also underway.
What are the reactions to the indictment of the four police officers?
The indictment of the four Marseille police officers, and in particular the placement in pre-trial detention of one of them, aroused the ire of the Alliance and Unsa Police unions: “Police officers, like everyone else, not only have the right to the presumption of innocence but also have the right to the same justiciable regime as others. Pre-trial detention is an exceptional measure that applies to both citizens and police officers,” they criticize. “Alliance Police Nationale and Unsa Police give their full support to their colleagues, especially in the face of this placement in pre-trial detention (…) and warn of the incomprehension, concern and anger of the police”, conclude the unions.
In Marseille, a kitty was opened to help the families of the four police officers indicted, on the initiative of the BAC Sud. Friday morning it already had 8,818 euros for 245 donations.