The video went around social networks and provoked a multitude of reactions. Saturday, February 8, on the sidelines of a demonstration of "yellow vests" in Bordeaux enamelled with violence, a muscular arrest of a man by BAC police was seen more than 2.5 million times, causing indignation many internet users. Since then, the version of the police and that of the protester have been opposed. Monday, the young man was released after two police custody and 30 hours of hearings " without any charge being brought against him, " said his lawyer, Me Gabriel Lassort in Figaro .
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" No offense has been charged with him, " he said. " He will file a complaint in the next few days in the hands of the public prosecutor for the head of" aggravated violence by the depositary of public authority "and" repeated death threats "," added Mr. Lassort, without indicating the nature of the threats which are, according to him, " characterized ". " The prosecution may find other elements against him, but at this time he is not summoned before a judge or a court ", explains the lawyer, adding that his client is " deeply shocked "and" medically supported ".
In the aftermath, the parquet floor of Bordeaux announced this Tuesday evening to have seized the IGPN (General Inspectorate of the national police) in order to be able to " base its future decision on the follow-up to be given to this case ".
The police justify themselves
The 48-second images show a young man bluntly arrested on Saturday among travelers lined up in front of the glass walls of Bordeaux train station, including children. A policeman comes forward and points to a man: " No, left, left! ". Another policeman then runs to another man wearing a green cap, grabs him by the clothes and pulls him to the ground, before immobilizing him while his colleague kicks him in the lower body, in front onlookers taken aback. Several children are far from the stage.
Faced with the outcry caused by this hectic arrest, the police had to react Monday to AFP, saying that it was " appropriate and regulatory ". Another problem for the authorities: the sequence was " truncated from the events preceding this arrest, " say the services of the public prosecutor. The departmental director of public security of Gironde, Patrick Mairesse, explains that the young man in the cap had previously been seen by a police officer " throwing stones " in the direction of the police, in the sector from the station, then prey to "a lot of aggressiveness ". " A helicopter had previously filmed him recovering objects on a construction site, " said the prosecutor of Bordeaux on Monday.
" Yes, he was arrested in the middle of onlookers, but it was he who hid in their midst to avoid being arrested, " said the head of public security. " The policeman carried out a sweep which consists in putting down a person so that he is handcuffed more easily: this gesture is part of the appropriate and regulatory techniques ," he detailed.
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