It’s a more symbolic sentence than one with real consequences. A court in the Paris region sentenced this Friday one year suspended sentence to police officer Marc-Antoine C. to have anal attacked Young Théo Luhaka was brutally arrested with his baton in the northern Paris suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois in February 2017. French Justice also imposed a three-month suspended sentence for two other agents who participated in the arrest.
The brutal arrest of young Théo, who was 22 years old at the time of the events and had black skin, represented one of the events that took place. Police abuse cases that made the biggest impact in the media in last decade France. The problem of police brutality is deeply rooted in the neighboring country and mostly affects young people living in the surrounding neighborhoods, many of whom are of foreign origin.
The final sentence in Théo’s case was lower than the sentences requested by the attorney general: three years in prison for the main agent involved, and six and three months in prison for the other two. Despite this, the Bobigny Tribunal (northern outskirts of Paris) found them guilty. “voluntary violence” and “collection” crimeswith the aggravating circumstances of being part of the police force. He also rejected the officers’ claim that they acted in self-defense.
“The violence he used was not justified”
Since these are conditional sentences and have no antecedents, None of the three agents will be imprisoned. However, the penalties include a five-year ban on Marc Antoine C. from working on public roads and a ban on carrying weapons, and the same sentence on the other two agents for two years. HE The trial started on January 9 It culminates in this half-baked sentence that could leave both unconditional supporters of the security forces and anti-racist militants who condemn police brutality unsatisfied.
“This decision reveals the truth in this file and clearly states that: “The violence Theo suffered was illegitimate.”, emphasized that the prosecution’s lawyer, Antoine Vey, reminded that “there was no reason for Theo to be detained that day.” “This is a reasonable sentence,” said Thibault de Montbrial, the chief prisoner’s lawyer, as he left the courtroom where anti-racist militants were declaring “There is no peace without justice.”
“The answer given to police officers and police unions (with this sentence) is this: that they can go on and that they should not be afraid of anything“, lamented Amal Bentounsi, founder of the collective “The Urgency of Our Killer Police” and whose brother died after being shot in the back by a police officer in 2012 and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2017.
A case that left its mark on the 2017 presidential campaign
Theo’s harsh detention anal penetration with a baton that breaks her sphincter, represents one of the iconic cases of police abuse in the neighboring country. The scenes of his arrest were recorded by Aulnay-sous-Bois security cameras and sparked several nights of riots. Formed The full campaign of the 2017 presidential electionThis incident made the issue of police violence one of the topics of discussion in the elections won by Emmanuel Macron. The then-37-year-old centrist candidate condemned these incidents as an example of “police brutality” and “illegitimate force.”
Despite this stance seven years ago, the president has not addressed the abusive use of force by security forces. HE the problem got worse since that time. So much so that the death of 17-year-old Nahel, who was shot at close range by a police officer at a traffic stop, led to a riot in the ‘suburbs’ at the end of June last year. And it represented the biggest wave of unrest in the vibrant neighboring country since 2005. Another sign that the problem continues despite investigations and judicial decisions.