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French policemen cite fatigue in abuse probe

French policemen said they were "mentally exhausted" when they were recorded threatening arrested protesters, in a case that has triggered an investigation, an internal report showed Friday.

French riot police in Paris
French riot police officers walk past as fire during a demonstration at Place d'Italie in Paris. Photo: Alain JOCARD / AFP

Members of a Paris motorbike police unit are being investigated over abusive comments recorded late on March 20th as they detained youth during protests against a contentious pension reform.

In a report to their supervisors, seen by AFP Friday, members of the Motorised Brigades for the Repression of Violent Action (BRAV-M) said fatigue was to blame.

One of them, Yann C., said that he and his team had been on patrol since 10am when the recording was made after 11pm.

Another, Benoit A., described “shifts of 14 hours, even 16 hours” during the demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform, which includes increasing the retirement age from 62 to 64.

“Eating and drinking were complicated,” he wrote, claiming some officers took “medication” because they did not have time to go to the bathroom.

“We were physically and mentally exhausted,” he said.

READ ALSO: Clashes in Paris after latest pension protests

Wanted to ‘let off steam’ 

In the recording, shared by French media on March 24th, members of the police unit can be heard picking on a 23-year-old Chadian student, who has accused them of slapping him.

The policemen make sexually explicit, sexist and racist comments, while one member of the force tells a protester that they better watch out or next time they will have to take “a thing called an ambulance to go to hospital”.

In the internal report, Victor L. claimed to have focused on the Chadian student not due to his skin colour, but because of “his arrogance and provocations”.

Benoit A. says him mocking the foreigner for having “cried like a girl” was just a “clumsy” comment.

Pierre L. denied accusations he slapped him, claiming he simply “pushed him back via the face”.

But the audio features what sounds like a slap and him saying: “Want another one to set your jaw straight?”

Yanis A. claimed that, when he asked the Chadian if he arrived in France “hanging off a plane wing”, he was just trying to “let off steam”.

Theo R., who threatened him with an order to leave French territory, said he was merely trying to “inform him of judicial risks”.

‘Fatigue cannot exonerate’

Lawyer Arie Alimi, who is representing the Chadian student and another female protester, said he was not convinced by the policemen’s arguments.

“Fatigue cannot exonerate someone of criminal liability,” he said.

But, he added, “it could invoke the criminal responsibility of the police chief himself in view of the intensity of the operations he ordered.”

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said he was “extremely shocked by the comments”.

The policemen caught on tape have been taken off duty, but they have not been suspended, Paris police have said.

The inquiries are ongoing.

At least two other BRAV-M policemen are being investigated for alleged brutality, a source close to the case has said, asking not to be named.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Why do French police love to use tear gas so much?

Rights groups have accused French police of disproportionate use of force in the pension demonstrations since January, which have turned more violent since the government last month forced the retirement bill through parliament without a vote.

But the interior ministry insists it has been responding to “far-left” radicals intent on damaging public property.
 
Activists and left-wing lawmakers have called for the BRAV-M to be dissolved, but Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin this week rejected that request.
 
By Alexandre Hielard

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PROTESTS

Quarter million protest in France against far right: police

Some 250,000 people took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest the rise of the far right after their success in European polls prompted President Emmanuel Macron to call legislative elections, police said.

Quarter million protest in France against far right: police

In Paris, police estimated 75,000 people had responded to a call from unions, associations and a new left-wing political coalition formed for the parliamentary elections.

The CGT union put the figure at 640,000 protesters at a total of 182 rallies including 250,000 in Paris.

From Bayonne in the southwest to Nice in the southeast, from Vannes in the west to Reims in the east, demonstrators mobilised against the prospect of a victory for the far right in the legislative elections.

READ ALSO: IN PICTURES: Hundreds of thousands protest against far right in France

If that were to happen, National Rally (RN) party leader Jordan Bardella could become prime minister.

The RN enjoyed a healthy lead in recent election polls.

“I thought I would never see the far right come to power and now it could happen,” said Florence David, 60, who took part in the Paris protest.

“No need to vote RN to love France,” was among the slogans used.

The marches took place mostly in calm, but police arrested 20 people, including nine in Paris.

Five police officers were lightly injured in the protests.

There were brief episodes of tension in Rennes and Nantes in western France where a few dozen hard-left activists were pushed back by the police with tear gas.

In Paris, street infrastructure was damaged and two bank branches were targeted by hooded protesters.

Police in the capital were also the target of thrown bottles, to which they responded with tear gas, AFP correspondents said.

Some 21,000 members of the security forces were deployed across France.

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