REPORTAGE
They have been at the heart of the Pitié-Salpêtrière controversy since the May Day demonstration. On Saturday, protesters in police custody, after entering the hospital, tell their story. They explained the conditions of their arrests, how they were interrogated, speaking of psychological pressure, even speaking of humiliation.
Grouped together in a collective called "The collective of 34", some of them took the floor to first thank the staff of the hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, their lawyers, the media. All those, they say, who helped to restore the truth of the facts. The members of the collective then delivered their version of what happened Wednesday, at the end of the afternoon. Neither "attack", nor "violent intrusion" in the enclosure of the hospital, they assure, but "necessity" to take refuge to flee the tear gas and the batons of the police forces of the order. For the first time, they mainly talked about their conditions of custody. The text they read in front of the press repeatedly uses the term "ultra-police violence".
"Everything was set up to force us to testify"
"In the middle of the night, the police came to wake us by banging our cell doors with batons, and passing the keys on the gates to make as much noise as possible and prevent us from sleeping," reads a young woman of the collective. She continues: "In the night, new charges arose on the arrest sheets, namely 'armed gang', and 'use of explosive objects'".
" " The depot was presented as a place inhabited only by criminals, likely to violate us, for some " ""Some lawyers asked to see their clients, but the security forces refused, explaining that they did not know where we were, some of us were called in the middle of the night for a statement, when we We were weak psychologically and morally, everything was set up to force us to testify despite our right to remain silent.The depot was presented as a place inhabited only by criminals, likely to violate us, for some ", adds -she.
The entire press conference is available below:
Allo @Place_Beauvau
Press Conference of the Custodians #PitieSalepetrierehttps: //t.co/MuWARSRdIh
The 34 members of the group said they were still under preliminary investigation. Individuals are already considering taking legal action in the opposite direction to "charge" what they consider to be a "state lie".