There are growing calls for justice from the families of two alleged victims of police violence in France including a 14-year-old Roma boy left with severe facial injuries after his arrest, reports The Guardian.
Christophe Castaner, the French interior minister, has said the case of Gabriel Djordjevic, who sustained a fracture to his eye socket and four broken teeth after he claimed he was kicked by a police officer, was “troubling”.
Castaner said he did not understand the police explanation for the boy’s injuries, which was that he had fallen.
“It’s not normal that a 14-year-old boy, or anyone else, be injured during an arrest. There are two explanations: that of the young man and that of the police officers and they are totally contradictory. It’s not for me to decide which is right,” Castaner told BFMTV. He said he had referred the case to internal police investigators.
“I don’t understand the explanation the police have given … the [police] chief doesn’t understand it either,” Castaner said.
In an interview with Loopsider, Gabriel admitted he and a friend were about to steal a scooter. “Sure, it was stupid, but what they did to me…” he said. “There were four of them. One of them put handcuffs on me and put his knees on my back. A woman [officer] held my feet while a bearded police officer kicked me in the face.”
The arresting officers have denied the accusations and say the youngster fell while running away.
Gabriel’s lawyer, Stéphane Gas, said nothing suggested the alleged attack on the boy was racially motivated but the violence was unacceptable and he had written to the minister to demand the immediate suspension of the officers.
“The scenario given by the police for what happened makes no sense at all,” Gas said. He added that the teenager had never been in trouble with the police before. “He is absolutely traumatised and will be seeing a psychologist this week,” he said.
The Djordjevic family has lodged a legal case for “organised violence” and a second complaint with the police’s internal investigators.
In another high-profile case, the family of Adama Traoré, 24, a black Frenchman, who died in 2016 after being arrested by police in circumstances similar to George Floyd in the US, said on Tuesday they had rejected the offer of talks with the justice minister.
“The Traoré family reiterates that it wants legal progress and not an invitation to talks that won’t lead to any procedural purpose,” the campaign group, Truth for Adama, said.
The family’s campaign for the officers involved in his arrest to face legal action has been given new momentum by worldwide anger over Floyd’s killing and the BLM movement.