Three police officers will be tried in Paris for involuntary manslaughter, accused of having unintentionally caused the death of deliveryman Cédric Chouviat during a tense arrest on January 3, 2020, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned from a close source on Friday January 3. of the file.
In the order for reference, revealed by Mediapart and consulted by the AFP, the investigating magistrates concluded that the police had had a “inappropriate, negligent and reckless behavior” leading to the asphyxiation of this father, who died at the age of 42. A fourth police officer, who had been placed under the more favorable status of assisted witness during the investigation, escaped a trial.
The facts date back to January 3, 2020. Cédric Chouviat, a scooter deliveryman, was pinned to the ground in Paris, with his motorcycle helmet on his head, during a police check, which caused him discomfort. Hospitalized in critical condition, he was pronounced dead on January 5.
Six months after his death, the case had become emblematic of police violence after revelations from the judicial expertise: during his grounding and handcuffing by the police, Cédric Chouviat said nine times “I’m suffocating” in thirteen seconds, before feeling unwell.
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His pleas recalled the death of George Floyd, a black American suffocated in May 2020 by a white police officer in Minneapolis, a tragedy which triggered an immense wave of demonstrations in the United States.
The referral of the three police officers to the Paris Criminal Court is “an important step for Cédric’s family” Chouviat, said Arié Alimi, lawyer for the family. “It is also for the judicial treatment of police violence. The hearing will be the place and time for important debates on the functioning of the police institution and the judicial institution.he said.
Mes William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth, other family lawyers, also welcomed a “crucial step” but regretted “the choice of qualification” of manslaughter “which distorts and conceals” the character ” voluntary “according to them, violence.
For her part, lawyer Pauline Ragot, who represents the captain and another police officer involved, told AFP that she had appealed the order, issued on December 17.
