Jean-Baptiste Marty / Credits: Loïc Venance/AFP 10:07 a.m., January 16, 2024

The trial of the three police officers involved in the Théo case continues before the Seine-Saint-Denis assizes. The officers are on trial for aggravated violence. They are on trial for a violent arrest that occurred in 2017 in Aulnay-sous-Bois. The victim, Theo Luhaka, had been hit in the rectal area by a blow from a baton.

Continuation of the trial of the three police officers in the Theo case. The officers appeared before the Seine-Saint-Denis Assizes for aggravated violence. The officials are on trial for a violent arrest that occurred in 2017 in Aulnay-sous-Bois. The victim, Théo Luhaka, had been hit in the rectal area by a blow from a telescopic baton. One of the highlights of the trial: Theo's hearing after three days of hearings. Europe 1 was there to listen to his testimony.

"I'm disabled"

The athletic-looking young man approaches a closed face as he steps up to the stand. "Today, I don't do much, I stay at home, but mostly I'm disabled," he says. Since his arrest, the former footballer says he feels isolated. His childhood friends haven't spoken to him since what he describes as rape. Faced with this testimony, the president can't help but remind him of his appointments with the psychologist, which he didn't honor. Absences that slowed down the young man's psychic reconstruction.

>> ALSO READ – Théo case: this trial "must not be that of the French police", says the victim's lawyer

"Go to the camera's field"

In front of the Assize Court, Théo accuses the police crew of having committed violence against other young people in his neighborhood a week before his arrest. The Chair decided to interrupt the meeting in order to refocus the debate on the inquiry that had occurred in March 2017. "When you watch the video, are you calm?" the magistrate asked. "I may have struggled. My only idea is to go into the camera's field of view to be seen," explains Théo.

A few days after his arrest, the victim said he had been deliberately raped by the police with a telescopic baton. A version contradicted by a camera. Faced with these inconsistencies, only aggravated violence will be retained against the officers, who risk up to 15 years in prison.