Canada: brutal arrest of young blacks arouses outrage
Audio 01:18
The Quebec City Police Department has opened an internal investigation (illustrative image).
AFP / File
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In Quebec, the brutal arrest by the police of a group of young blacks at the exit of a nightclub aroused the indignation of the political class and many Quebecers.
It is a video broadcast and shared thousands of times on social networks that alerted the general public.
Reporting.
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With our correspondent in Montreal,
Justine Cohendet
The scene takes place at the exit of a nightclub in Quebec City.
On the images of a video captured by a witness, we can see a young man handcuffed and nailed to the ground by the police.
A policeman punches him in the face.
Another officer throws snow at him with his foot.
A little further on, a young woman is stopped by two officers who pin her face to the ground.
Quebec.
Investigation opened after a muscular arrest https://t.co/at1Ngky42w @BenjaminAubert pic.twitter.com/SJTtMXoQwB
- The important (@Limportant_fr) November 29, 2021
The Quebec City police department has opened an internal investigation, but several voices are rising to demand an independent investigation.
For the lawyer of one of the young people arrested, this incident is the perfect example of racial profiling that exists in Quebec.
He explains that his client, Pacifique Niyokwizera, whose eye is still red and swollen, was released and has not received any tickets following this arrest.
The five police officers involved suspended
On social media, the 18-year-old announced that he was considering going to court.
"
It was just to thank you for sharing the video [...] for giving me the strength to be able to say,
'Yes, I'm going to sue them,'" said Pacifique Niyokwizera.
Four days after this violent arrest, the indignation is still strong.
The entire political class said it was shocked by these images.
And in protest, a comedian also decided to cancel a series of shows he was to offer to employees and volunteers of Quebec City.
Faced with the indignation aroused, the police of Quebec City announced on Tuesday the suspension of the five police officers involved in this arrest.
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