French police arrested a dozen people on a fourth straight night of clashes with youths on housing estates north of Paris, amid fury over a violent arrest in which a police officer was charged* with raping a young man with a baton, reports The Guardian.
The case put the spotlight on police brutality in France, where officers are regularly accused of using excessive force in poorer neighbourhoods, particularly against black and minority ethnic young men.
One officer was charged* with anally raping a young black man with an expandable police baton during an arrest after identity checks on a police patrol last week in Aulnay-sous-Bois north of Paris. The 22-year-old, known only by his first name, Théo, 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.
On Tuesday night, clashes with police and the torching of cars, bins and bus shelters spread to estates in neighbouring suburban areas. But in Aulnay-sous-Bois itself the disturbances stopped after Théo appealed for calm from his hospital bed. Hundreds of demonstrators also took to the streets in the east of Paris.
Théo, who has no police record, was visited in hospital by the French president, François Hollande, on Tuesday as the government sought to calm tensions on housing estates and deflect criticism that it had in the past turned a blind eye to allegations of police brutality.
With Hollande beside his hospital bed, Théo made a televised appeal for his neighbourhood to stay calm and “stay united”. He said he did not want a war on the estate and that he trusted the justice system.
Théo’s sister, a professional handball player, said the family wanted justice and calm, not “incidents”.
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.