Revealed: the violence of a French police unit and how they tried to conceal it

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A suspect detained by a group of French police officers north of Paris was kicked in the head, tasered and had excrement smeared on his jacket even though he was restrained at the time. Mediapart is publishing extracts from a report by the police watchdog which showed the scale of the violence meted out by the officers as well as the efforts they made to cover up their acts. Yet as Pascale Pascariello reports, only one of the five officers involved is due to face the courts over their actions.

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Mediapart can reveal the full details of how a 22-year-old man was subjected to a violent attack by a group of French police officers in the back of a police van after his arrest. Thierry L., was kicked in the head, tasered in the stomach and between his thighs and had his jacket soiled with excrement. The officers involved, whose initial actions were caught on video by locals, then sought to cover up what they had done.