A 34-year-old man, suffering from serious mental disorders and placed under reinforced guardianship, died on Tuesday in the premises of the Bagneux police station (Hauts-de-Seine), during police custody for alleged violations of the legislation on narcotics.
The information was confirmed by the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office, which immediately opened an investigation to determine the causes of death. This was entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).
Repeated discomfort
Police custody began on Sunday, but was suspended on Monday after an initial illness, requiring temporary hospitalization. After passing several medical examinations, carried out in various establishments, the thirty-year-old was deemed fit to continue the measure. However, during a second illness that occurred on Tuesday afternoon, while he was alone in his cell, emergency services were called but were unable to save him.
An autopsy was performed Wednesday morning. The first results tend to exclude the intervention of a third party, but additional analyzes have been ordered to determine precisely the cause of death.
A complaint from the family
The victim’s family, represented by their lawyers Me Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard and Me Agnès Lowenstein, announced their intention to file a complaint. Me Lowenstein stressed that the victim suffered from a “severe mental pathology” and denounced a “lack of cooperation between health and justice”.
She also questioned the treatment reserved for vulnerable people by the police, believing that this case raises fundamental questions about the management of individuals in situations of psychological fragility in the judicial context.
Swiss
