Lille: a homosexual denounces a homophobic assault and claims not to have been able to complain

A man in his 30s was injured Wednesday night in Lille during a fight with three men who, he said, launched homophobic insults at him seeing him hold his companion by the arm and he says the police refused to receive his complaint.

On Wednesday, around 8 pm, in a downtown street, near a metro station, "three guys started to insult us, because I was holding my companion by the arm," Fares Araoudiou, 34, said Saturday. confirming information from the LGBT Invert website. "I'm not someone who lets himself go," said the former Thai boxing enthusiast, saying he insulted them in return and fought with them before the three men finally left. "They took shots," he said, adding that his companion had not fought.

A complaint not admissible due to lack of medical certificate. According to Fares Araoudiou, three policemen were about 50 meters away and advised them to go to the central police station. Also according to his testimony, the couple of men rang the intercom of the police station around 22h, could not enter and was explained by an agent that their complaint was not admissible, lack of medical certificate, and that they "did not have to hold each other's arms". Fares Araoudiou has since been prescribed four days of ITT, suffering from two ribs and a cracked clavicle. He planned to file a complaint Saturday night in Montpellier, where he lives, for "willful and homophobic violence" and for "non-assistance to anyone in danger from the Lille police".

Open investigation. Several elected representatives of Lille reacted. "Dismayed to learn of the assault of a homosexual couple in Lille this week, all my support for Safir and his companion #StopHomophobie," tweeted socialist mayor Martine Aubry.

Dismayed to learn the assault of a homosexual couple in Lille this week. All my support for Safir and his companion #StopHomophobia

"Unfortunately, the complaints of homophobic attacks are too often badly handled by the police and justice.There is a fight to fight in line with the feminist fight #metoo against sexist assault," said Jérémie Crépel, councilor EELV and founder of the association Homovert-es, in a statement. According to La Voix du Nord , the urban security department of Lille opened an investigation to find the attackers and find out why the complainant was unable to register his complaint. Solicited, the prefecture of Lille had not followed Saturday night.