Police officers beat up man in custody, ‘unbearable’ images outrage left

POLICE VIOLENCE – A bloody face, a fractured forearm, bruises all over his body… A 42-year-old man experienced a night of hell on July 25 in a Paris police station. The video surveillance images, revealed this Thursday, September 19 by the newspaper Releaseare edifying and show a weakened man on whom several agents are relentlessly attacking, without discernment.

According to the story of our colleagues, this man, of Peruvian nationality, had been arrested during an identity check in the evening for contempt. He is notably accused of having very violently insulted a police officer. Taken to the police station of the 5th and 6th arrondissements of Paris, he was then subjected to repeated blows, armlocks and slaps. One of the officers appears particularly vengeful in the images since he uses his telescopic baton to hit the individual in the stomach, a shoulder and the head. Beyond those who brutalize the man, the police officers present in the room do not react. Worse, some laugh about it.

The revelation of these images shocked many Internet users and outraged part of the political world, especially on the left. “These images are incredibly violent. They are unbearable. All light must be shed on this affair, and sanctions must be taken.”complains communist senator Ian Brossat. LFI MP Bastien Lachaud also protests against these “Blows, injuries and humiliation” which occur, he emphasizes, “under the laughter of colleagues who lied to cover themselves ” The elected official insists: “ And the same people are still going to repeat that we are anti-police because we denounce this violence? We will not be silent. We must reform the police from the basement to the attic.”

” Ordinary sadism »

A reference to past comments by Jean-Luc Mélenchon who, in June 2022, declared: “The police kill.” A young woman had just been killed by a police officer, while she was a passenger in a vehicle that had not stopped for a routine check. Since then, these three words have often been reproached to the rebellious leader, including on the left.

“Without the video, (the Peruvian forty-year-old) might have been accused of violence against the police with the supporting testimony of all his colleaguesassures for his part the LFI deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo. We need a republican police force that reassures and protects our fellow citizens, not a police force that uses unjustified violence.” In this regard, according to the transcription made by Liberationone of the police officers in question returned to his statements before the IGPN and admitted to having lied to cover for his colleague. Another, who remained passive in the face of the unleashing of violence, explained: ” I was afraid that I might be criticized within the brigade for being weak, for not supporting my colleagues.”

On July 25, the 42-year-old man was taken to hospital where his injuries were assessed as thirty days of total incapacity for work. He filed a complaint the following day. As is always the case in this type of case, the Paris prosecutor’s office then contacted the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN). With Releasethe Paris police prefecture indicates that an administrative investigation is underway. “Police violence against citizens is intolerable. Impunity has no place in a state governed by the rule of law.”thundered the Green MP Sophie Taillé-Polian this Thursday.

For LFI MP Arnaud Saint-Martin, these “abuse” committed in “the indifference of the few colleagues who do not participate in this ordinary and uninhibited sadism” are “intolerable”. “Police violence is systemic”also denounces his rebellious colleague Thomas Portes. “You thought it only happened to others. It’s in the heart of Paris. It’s happening more and more often. We have to start all over again.”considers LFI MP Aurélien Saintoul.

The assaulted individual underwent X-rays, which confirmed that he suffered a fracture of the ulna, one of the bones in his forearm. He is still wearing a cast.

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