Taha Bouhafs was tried in Créteil on Wednesday for "contempt" and "rebellion" towards a police officer.
The facts date back to June 2019 and occurred during a demonstration he was covering in Alfortville.
Familiarity, suspicions of racism, wearing the registration number… During the hearing, the journalist defended himself by criticizing police methods and giving the case a political twist.
The prosecutor finally requested a fine of 700 euros against him.
The decision will be made on May 11.
At the court of Créteil (Val-de-Marne),
Good things come to those who wait for.
In the end, we had to wait almost two years after the events.
A report from the General Inspectorate of the National Police.
The filing of a priority question of constitutionality.
Two dismissals from the court of Créteil (Val-de-Marne).
But Arié Alimi ended up recognizing it, Wednesday March 10, shortly after 1 p.m.
“We are all aware that this hearing does not only have a legal vocation… It also has a political vocation…”, thus dropped the lawyer for Taha Bouhafs, when concluding his argument and asking for the release of his customer.
Become famous for having filmed Alexandre Benalla on the Place de la Contrescarpe on a certain eventful May 1st, Taha Bouhafs appeared before the 11th chamber of the judicial court for “contempt” and “rebellion” towards a person holding public authority.
The facts are as simple as they are banal: on June 11, 2019, the journalist films with his phone a demonstration of undocumented migrants in front of the Chronopost company in Alfortville when an incident with a plainclothes policeman breaks out.
The journalist is tackled to the ground and arrested.
A dislocated shoulder.
Ten days of incapacity for work.
The official claims to have been called a “scum cop”.
“What is “a young local”?
»
"It's a case of contempt with two bullets as we plead 150 a year", testifies prosaically Laurent-Franck Liénard, the lawyer for Maxime Demaire, the police officer who filed the complaint.
Perhaps.
Without a doubt.
Except that it perfectly illustrates the gap that is forming between the police and part of French youth.
And Taha Bouhafs and his lawyer were quick to grab a shovel and dig even deeper.
By dragging things out a bit, first.
And, above all, by asking simple questions.
Not the ones the court has to answer.
But those who still and always titillate public opinion.
Why did the police officer allow himself to be familiar with Taha Bouhafs during the arrest?
“Because he was a young local…” What does “young local” mean?
"Uh..." Also why was the policeman not wearing a police armband, uniform, or number?
“A simple oversight…” Why do the facts appearing in the report drawn up by the policeman not correspond to those seen on the videos?
Why does the anti-crime brigade always use the expression “North African type” to designate a suspicious individual?
#Bouhafs: For history, he explains that the BAC was created in 1971 after an immigrant worker, Bahar Rehala, was killed with a shovel by police officers who had prosecuted him for the theft of a pot of yogurt.
— Vincent Vantighem (@vvantighem) March 10, 2021
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“In my career, I have done much more serious things…”
Why ?
Why ?
Why ?
A dozen questions were finally enough to lead to a strange reversal of roles.
As if the victim was not the one we thought.
And that, in perfect asymmetry, neither does the defendant.
In fact, Taha Bouhafs only spent a fairly quiet quarter of an hour at the helm, when Maxime Demaire struggled for more than an hour.
On the grill.
While in his capacity as plaintiff, he did not even have the obligation to come.
That's probably why he ended up dropping the sentence too much.
“I don't even understand that we have to justify and explain ourselves so much in terms of content and form.
This is a bit beyond me.
I must say that in my career, I have already done much more serious things.
And I didn't have to justify myself so much…”
Right as an "i" at the helm, he must have realized that he had pushed the cork a little too far.
Because a few minutes later, he decided not to answer any more questions, as the procedure allows him.
But the damage was done.
And his lawyer, Laurent-Franck Liénard, had all the trouble in the world trying to straighten the bar.
Fine penalty required.
The decision known on May 11
Of course, he recalled the working conditions of the police today.
Forced "to put on a bulletproof vest in the morning" without knowing if they will return in the evening.
To take “the fleet on the face all day outside” without being considered by their hierarchy.
In cars that don't drive.
And forced to be "insulted by individuals who, cellphone in hand, are only looking for provocation".
Taha Bouhafs, he assures us that he was not looking for provocation on June 11, 2019. That he only wanted to do his job as a journalist.
He explains that he did utter the word "scum" to the attention of Maxime Demaire, but that he was unaware then that he was a police officer... Sufficient to characterize the facts, according to the prosecutor who then requires a simple fine of 700 euros.
When she announces this, Laurent-Franck Liénard has already left the courtroom due to another appointment to be honored.
Just before, while pleading, he had expressed his fatalism.
“Whatever your decision, I would have lost anyway… If you condemn Taha Bouhafs, his lawyer will go in front of the cameras to say that it is a denial of justice.
And if you release him, I would have lost…”
Answer on May 11, when the court will render its decision.
Not sure that the gap between public opinion and the police will be closed by then.
Find all the proceedings of this trial on our journalist's Twitter account:
@vvantighem
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