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METRO

Outrage over handcuffing of 12-year-old boy

A YouTube video showing a 12-year-old boy being handcuffed and wrestled to the ground by two security guards in a Stockholm metro station has prompted strong reactions from family members, but police claim the guards did nothing wrong.

Outrage over handcuffing of 12-year-old boy

“Ow! My leg,” the boy can be heard screaming on the video, which was recently posted on YouTube.

The incident took place last summer at the Slussen metro station after guards were called to deal with youngsters who were reportedly riding between the rail cars of the Saltsjöbanan tram line.

When the guards met up with the 12-year-old and his friends, the situation quickly turned heated.

“I climbed between the cars, and then went in again. Then they came up and said, ‘follow us, don’t resist’,” the boy told Sveriges Television (SVT).

“Then I looked back at my friends, and that was like, resistance, or something. Then they pushed me into a wall and then I got handcuffed. The rest is on the film.”

In the YouTube video, filmed by one of the boy’s friends, the guards can be seen pressing the 12-year-old up against a window with his arms behind his back before placing him in handcuffs and wrestling him to the ground of the platform.

The guards were reported to police for professional misconduct, but the case was dropped after investigators concluded that guards acted appropriately.

“There is nothing in the film that demonstrates professional misconduct,” Britt-Marie Hackzell of the Stockholm police told the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper, adding that the boy didn’t do as he was told and that the guards were dealing with a group of rowdy young people of various ages.

However, the boy’s mother remains adamant that the guards acted inappropriately.

“It doesn’t matter what happened before the assault,” she told SVT.

“I know my son can be difficult and cocky, but you can’t act like that toward a 12-year-old.”

Jesper Pettersson, a spokesperson for public transit operator SL, which managed the contract with the security company that employed the guards in the film, admitted that the film is provocative.

“It could have been handled differently. It’s part of being a security guard to be challenged, to be called names, among other things. But a guard should be able to handle that, especially when it comes from small children,” he told Aftonbladet.

In the wake of the film’s release, the guards have been taken off duty pending an internal investigation.

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METRO

The Paris transport works that could disrupt your summer

Every year, major engineering works take place on the capital's public transport network in July and August, when Parisians flee the city for their summer holidays. Here’s the lines affected this year.

The Paris transport works that could disrupt your summer
Photo: Ludovic MARIN / AFP.

Metro

The most significant changes to Metro lines will take place on line 6. The line will be closed between Montparnasse-Bienvenüe and Trocadéro throughout July and August, and the Nationale station will remain closed until the end of August. Replacement bus services will be available but will add time to your journey.

The Mairie des Lilas stop will also be inaccessible from June 26th, so line 11 line will end at Porte des Lilas until August 29th.

There will also be disruption on line 14, with no trains running between Gare de Lyon and Olympiades from July 25th until August 22nd, as work takes place to extend the line to Paris Orly Airport.

RER

Services on the RER A line will be suspended between Auber and the Université, Cergy and Poissy stations from June 26th until August 29th, every day from 9pm and all day on weekends.

From August 9th to 13th, and August 16th to 20th,  services will be suspended all day between Auber and La Défense, and no trains will be running to or from Poissy.

Frequent work is planned on RER B, which will affect journeys between the city centre and Charles de Gaulle and orly airports. There will be no services between Aulnay-sous-Bois and Charles de Gaulle 2 Airport on the weekend of June 26th-27th, or any day after 11pm from July 1st until August 27th. There will however be a replacement bus.

Services between Charles de Gaulle terminals 1 and 2 will also be suspended on July 3rd and 4th. Likewise for journeys between Gare du Nord and Charles de Gaulle 2 on August 14th and 15th.

Improvements take place during the summer, when public transport is less crowded. Photo: Aurore MESENGE / AFP.

The Luxembourg stop meanwhile will be closed throughout the whole of July. As will the Fontaine-Michalon station to the south of Paris from June 28th to July 23rd, and Denfert-Rochereau every weekend from July 24th until August 22nd.

The RER C will also see its share of engineering works, with no trains running between Pontoise and Avenue Henri Martin on weekdays after 9:30pm, from July 1st until July 13th.

There is greater disruption to come on weekends from July 15th to August 21st. Services will be suspended between Musée d’Orsay and Pontoise, Saint-Quentin en Yvelines and Versailles Château Rive Gauche, and Massy – Palaiseau and Pont de Rungis Aéroport d’Orly.

Tram

Most tramlines will be unaffected by works, but there will still be interruptions in certain areas. Notably, the stretch of the T3b line from Porte de Vincennes to Delphine Seyrig will be blocked between July 3rd and 9th.

Full details of the disruption can be found on the RATP website.

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