A music producer was beaten up by three police officers in the 17th arrondissement of Paris -

Loopsider / Screenshot

The day after a strong mobilization in France against the proposed comprehensive security law and against police violence, the four police officers accused of the beating of Michel Zecler, a black producer, were brought to justice on Sunday at midday.

An investigation has been open against them since Tuesday for "willful violence by a person holding public authority", with the aggravating circumstance of racism, and "forgery in public writing".

More details on possible prosecutions at 5 p.m.

Three days after the outbreak of this scandal and in a tense political context for the government, the Paris prosecutor Rémy Heitz held a press conference at 5 p.m. to announce possible prosecutions against the four police officers.

Sunday, in the middle of the day, after two days in police custody at the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN, the “police of the police”) the four men were transferred to the Paris judicial court for their defense, a source close to the matter told AFP.

They will either appear before a magistrate of the Paris prosecutor's office, who could for example decide on an immediate appearance or a deferred summons before the judicial court, or before an examining magistrate if the prosecutor decides to open a judicial investigation. .

Towards the opening of a judicial investigation?

A "forgery in public writing" by a person holding public authority is a crime, which makes it highly probable that compulsory judicial information be opened in the matter, even if this offense usually results in a trial. which is held before a criminal court and not before the assizes.

The broadcast on Thursday by the Loopsider site of Michel Zecler's video created a scandal.

We see the music producer beaten for several minutes in his music studio Saturday, November 21 in Paris by three police officers, before a fourth comes to throw a tear gas canister from outside inside the room.

The police contest the racist dimension to their attitude

In a second video published Friday, we see Michel Zecler being beaten again in the street, once extracted from the studio, and while he is surrounded by many other police officers who do not seem to prevent these new blows.

At this stage, it was not possible to know whether these other police officers had already been interviewed by the IGPN.

Michel Zecler claimed to have been insulted several times as a “dirty nigger”.

According to

Le Parisien

, police officers in custody contested any racist dimension to their attitude.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced Thursday “the dismissal” of the police officers involved, “as soon as the facts are established by justice”.

He accused them of having "soiled the uniform of the Republic".

An "extremely important" case for the Paris prosecutor

The press conference by Rémy Heitz, who on Thursday described this affair as "extremely important", comes the day after a strong mobilization in a hundred cities in France against the law "global security" and police violence.

In one week, the controversy surrounding the proposed comprehensive security law, strongly denounced by journalists and defenders of civil liberties, has grown even stronger.

The brutal evacuation of a migrant camp in Paris on Monday evening and the revelation on Thursday of the beating of Michel Zecler aroused indignation and electrified the debate.

These scenes were revealed by journalists' videos in the first case, and mainly by video surveillance images in the second case.

They have been viewed millions of times on social media.

Emmanuel Macron said Friday his "shame" at the images of the beating of Michel Zecler, among the most viral in 2020 in terms of information.

For the third time this year, the Head of State asked the government to quickly make proposals "to fight more effectively against all forms of discrimination."

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  • Aggression

  • Violence

  • Paris

  • Society

  • Police