Eight-year prison sentence for six police officers from the Paris BAC
Paris tribunal de grande instance.
RFI / Jan van der Made
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
At the Paris court, the judgment in the so-called "ripoux" police case of the 18th arrondissement anti-crime squad, was handed down on Monday, February 22.
The court found six police officers guilty a few years ago of turning a blind eye to drug trafficking for pay.
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Dressed in a gray sweater, his hands crossed on his chest, Karim M., the informal leader of the group of police officers sitting on the dock, slightly shakes his head at the announcement of his conviction.
Found guilty of having forced certain dealers of the Goutte d'or to give him money so that he turns a blind eye to their trafficking, he is convicted of passive corruption, money laundering, forgery of public documents and drug trafficking.
He was notably found guilty of having, in consultation with one of his "informers", conveniently arrested in April 2017 two men with cocaine that did not belong to them - by pocketing 80,000 euros.
The president of the court castigated arbitrary arrests.
"
By choosing those who should be checked and those who should not be worried, you are posing as a prosecutor and a judge,
" she storms, before adding "
you were also a banker and a carrier of suitcases
".
Eight years in prison
Accused of having betrayed the confidence of the police institution, Karim M. was sentenced to 8 years in prison and a definitive ban from exercising the profession of police officer.
For the president, the former patrol leader has "
sullied
" a whole profession by his actions.
"
When I see the career he has made and what he has achieved in terms of arrests, prosecutions, his work as a police officer ... The word dirty is really not admissible with regard to
" Mr. Karim M., said his lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve.
For the five other officials who were under his orders, the sanctions range from 4 years imprisonment to 18 months suspended.
They question their hierarchy, which would have voluntarily turned a blind eye to these practices.
“
It's very unfair for the little police officers who have been encouraged and praised for years for their behavior, for their work, which has always been exemplary.
And then today, because they worked under a lead hierarchy must respond with severity to the behavior of those who surrounded their work,
”said Adrien Sorrentino, the lawyer for one of the defendants.
All have planned to appeal this decision, considered too severe.
The youngest of these officials, some as young as 30, hope the appeal decision will allow them to return to the police.
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