A judicial investigation was opened Sunday by the Paris prosecutor's office after the dissemination of videos showing a man with a bloody face being hit on the ground by a police officer during his arrest on the sidelines of the demonstration of "yellow vests" on Saturday. The investigation of the prosecution was opened for "willful violence by a person holding public authority" and entrusted to the IGPN, the police force.
They just sent me this video # Acte62
We see a policeman hitting an injured and already under control person in the face
One of the police officers present on the video is part of a ULI2R from a CI in Paris.
(I don't know the author of the video) pic.twitter.com/JF7rsaWV5J
"The prefect of police asked the directorate of public order and traffic (DOPC) to shed light on this action," said the prefecture of police. An "internal administrative investigation was entrusted to the evaluation and control service" in order "to shed light on this action", she added.
60 people arrested on Saturday
On the images broadcast on social networks, the protester is lying on the ground in front of the armory of the Gare de l'Est, his face bloodied, when the policeman who maintains him strikes him with at least two punches. On another angle of the scene, filmed by AFPTV around 2:30 p.m., the man, lying on his stomach and already handcuffed, cries out in pain when the policeman presses his knee on his arm.
Thousands of protesters marched on Saturday afternoon in Paris, at the call of the "yellow vests", chanting anti-Macron, anti-police or anti-pension slogans. In total, 60 people were arrested, including 45 placed in police custody, according to the authorities, during this rally marked by tensions with the police.
New context
These new investigations, judicial and administrative, are opened while the executive has changed your tone in the face of police violence. On Tuesday, the President of the Republic put pressure on the Interior Ministry by demanding quick "proposals" to improve the ethics of the police. Last week, the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner had devoted a good part of his wishes to the National Police to the duty of "exemplarity" and ethics.
In Paris, at least three judicial investigations were opened for police violence committed on January 9 during the demonstration against the pension reform, including a LBD shot at close range. On December 6, another investigation was launched on the basis of videos showing two police officers hitting a person on the ground during the demonstration the day before against this reform.
Politics
Police violence: Has the majority really changed their discourse?
Society
Police violence: Emmanuel Macron asks the government to make "proposals" to "improve ethics"
- Yellow vests
- Police
- Demonstration
- Police violence
- Justice