France: two police officers sentenced to prison for the arrest of a migrant

Text by: RFI Follow

It is an extremely rare fact in France. In Marseille, two police officers were sentenced to firm prison on Wednesday for the illegal arrest of a young Afghan refugee, then abandoned in a vacant lot.

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One of the police officers involved recognizes this: they committed "a huge dumpling". Two of the three police officers involved were sentenced to 4 years and 18 months in prison respectively for kidnapping and forcible confinement. They were imprisoned after the conviction for kidnapping and forcible confinement, forgery and willful violence. A third member of the CRS motorway team, a safety assistant, was given a one-year suspended prison sentence by the Marseille Criminal Court.

On April 12, near the old port of Marseille, a 27-year-old Afghan refugee was checked for the first time and then released. But evoking invective and fingers of honor against them, the police catch him.

Before the criminal court where they appeared after their police custody in the premises of the General Inspectorate of the National Police, the police acknowledged the facts, stressing that because of the health crisis, they would have " makes people laugh "if they had transported the young man to a criminal investigation officer for contempt, the young Afghan having cursed them according to the police. "  We had this guy on our arms, we didn't know what to do with it,  " said one of the CRS.

The young man was then transported to a remote site in Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, about thirty kilometers from Marseille. After breaking his cell phone for fear that he would photograph the license plate of the car, the young Afghan was then allegedly "  punched or slapped,  " according to the security assistant. Violence is disputed by his two colleagues, who write a false report indicating that he left the young refugee at the police station.

These police "  were not worthy of their uniform,  " said prosecutor Virginie Tavanti at the hearing. The three police officers apologized to the victim.

with AFP

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