A year and a half after the start of the controversy, the case of young people arrested in Mantes-la-Jolie rebounds. This Tuesday, May 5, the Nanterre prosecution and Me Arié Alimi, lawyer for several young people concerned, confirmed to Le Figaro that judicial information had been opened following a complaint with the constitution of a civil party filed by one of the students in last December.
An examining magistrate from Nanterre has just been appointed to carry out the investigations into the events of Thursday, December 6, 2018. That day, in the midst of high school student mobilization, 151 young people, mostly minors, had been arrested in Mantes-la -Jolie (Yvelines). A video showing them on their knees, their hands restrained on their heads or behind their backs, watched by the police, had aroused the excitement.
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The judicial information in question is open to the heads of "torture by person holding public authority", "torture of a minor aged 15", "arbitrary interference with liberty by person holding public authority" and "Aggravated violence" and "dissemination without his consent of an identifiable person handcuffed and criminally challenged".
"Talking about torture is shocking, " said the police unions in one voice. " Our colleagues did what they could that day with the means at hand , " breathes Alexandre Langlois, from Vigi. "We understand that the images may have struck, but we are far from torture!" , is indignant Frédéric Lagache, of Alliance National Police. "I hope that justice will wipe out these accusations," concludes Yves Lefebvre, of SGP Police FO Unit.
Me Alimi denounces "discriminatory treatment"
For Me Alimi, the opening of this investigation is a real step forward. "Finally! We have been fighting for more than a year to obtain this, ” reacts the lawyer. "What we want now is for an investigation to be opened and conducted under impartial conditions. The first thing we will ask is the hearing of all the young people, all the police and all the witnesses. "
The current procedure only concerns one of Mantes-la-Jolie's detainees, the one who filed a lawsuit with a civil party in December. "He is a minor particularly traumatized by the facts" , assures Me Alimi, refusing to reveal more. Other young people could however join in.
Me Alimi also announces to Le Figaro his intention to seize the Defender of Rights, even to take legal action, to protest against "the discriminatory treatment reserved for these kids by the judicial institution" . " It is not normal that there are so many obstacles and delays in this case, all because they come from Mantes-la-Jolie and because opposite there are police!", he believes.
Several surveys already carried out
Several investigations have already been launched in the context of this case. The day after the events, the Defender of Rights announced the opening of an investigation, recalling that "ensuring the respect of the ethics of security professionals" and "defending the best interests of the child" were part of his missions. Asked about the progress of this investigation, the independent authority was unable to respond to Le Figaro .
An administrative investigation, led by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), also concluded in May 2019 that there was no fault of the police. There was "no deviant behavior on the part of the police," said the director of the IGPN Brigitte Jullien before a commission of inquiry of the National Assembly.
Read also: High school students in Mantes-la-Jolie arrested: "no fault" of the police (IGPN)
Finally, a preliminary investigation entrusted to the IGPN by the Nanterre public prosecutor's office was closed without follow-up on July 24, 2019. This investigation resulted from simple complaints filed by a dozen young people as well as the Union Nationale Lycéenne (UNL) union, in particular for "Arbitrary violation of individual liberty", "willful violence by the depositary of public authority" and "acts of torture".
Read also: Interpellation of high school students in Mantes-la-Jolie: the IGPN investigation classified without further action
"The fact of retaining those arrested in a kneeling or sitting position, hampered for some of them, appears justified by the exceptional context of serious urban violence and the number of people to be taken to police stations, requiring an organization incompressible material, " wrote the Nanterre prosecution in a press release dated July 26, 2019.