Police in France are again facing allegations of brutality after an officer was charged* with the rape of a young man during a violent arrest in a suburb of Paris, reports The Guardian.
Four officers arrived on a housing estate in Aulnay-sous-Bois, north of Paris, on Thursday evening, where they began stopping youths and asking to see identity papers. During the operation, a 22-year-old man with no criminal record, identified only by his first name Theo, was allegedly forced to the ground and beaten.
A police officer has now been charged* with anally raping the young man with a police baton. Theo suffered such serious injuries to the rectum that he needed major emergency surgery and remains in hospital.
Three other officers were charged* with assault. The four officers, who deny the charges, have been suspended.
The prosecutor’s office said the police stopped a group of about a dozen people “after hearing calls characteristic of lookouts at drug dealing sites”. During the operation they “attempted to arrest a 22-year-old man”. When he resisted, they used teargas, and “one of them used an expandable baton”, the prosecutor’s office said, without giving details.
The incident sparked fury and disturbances in the sprawling estate of 3,000 people on Saturday evening, where a car was set alight and bus shelters were smashed. On Sunday, riot police were sent in to the area.
Éric Dupond-Moretti, the lawyer for Theo’s family, said: “This is an exceptionally serious case.” He told France Inter radio: “There was blood everywhere, on the walls …” He said the family wanted calm and “they demand justice”.
Read more of this report from The Guardian.
*Editor's note: Under a change to the French legal system introduced in 1993, a magistrate can decide a suspect should be 'placed under investigation' (mise en examen), which is a status one step short of being charged (inculpé), if there is 'serious or concordant' evidence that they committed a crime. Some English-language media describe this status, peculiar to French criminal law, as that of being charged. In fact, it is only at the end of an investigation that a decision can be made to bring charges, in which case the accused is automatically sent for trial.