ATS
The Besançon Criminal Court on Friday sentenced a police officer to a suspended fine of 1,000 euros and 500 euros in moral damages for having hit a “yellow vest” with a truncheon during a demonstration in Besançon in 2019. defendant was found guilty of intentional violence with a weapon by the agent of public authority.
“This decision finally contributes to recognizing the extent of police violence in France and during the movement of yellow vests”, welcomed the plaintiff’s lawyer. The public prosecutor, who had initially closed the case without follow-up, had requested the release.
At the hearing in January, the representative of the Public Prosecutor had argued that the policeman had intervened to deal with a danger, with an almost spontaneous preventive gesture to maintain order. He said it was definitely not an act of police violence.
The 22-year-old complainant was participating in a demonstration of “yellow vests” on Saturday March 30, 2019 in Besançon when the police intervened to arrest an individual suspected of having thrown projectiles at the police.
A police officer had emerged from the corner of a street and discovered his “pair” facing the young man with a tear gas canister between them. The policeman then struck the victim with a flexible defense stick, hitting him in the shoulder and the brow bone.
The scene, filmed by a media journalist from Besançon Media 25 and Radio Bip, went viral on social networks. “I did not understand why I had received a truncheon”, underlined the young “yellow vest” at the hearing. “I acted when necessary in the context of my work,” said the defendant, describing an extremely tense context of intervention.
“He hit the plaintiff’s arm with a soft stick so that this individual, strong as a rock and wearing a yellow vest, did not grab the tear gas canister,” assured the policeman’s lawyer, judging that “the response was proportionate”.
ATS