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Controversial arrest in Ile-Saint-Denis: filing of a complaint against the police

2020-05-09T17:21:10.036Z


Arrested in controversial circumstances by BAC and Asnières police officers on April 26, a man of nationali


The broadcast of the video of a night arrest in the town of Ile-Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) on Sunday, April 26 had raised a wave of indignation. Including in the police ranks and up to the top of the state. The following day, Christophe Castaner, Minister of the Interior had thus split a message of appeasement ensuring that "all the light (would be) made" and that the IGPN was seized of the case.

On this famous video filmed by a witness to the scene, it was possible to distinguish police officers carrying out an arrest. If the images were not very explicit, the soundtrack seemed oppressive, against a backdrop of racist insults. "A bicot like that, it does not swim," we heard. "Ha ha, it flows, you should have hung a ball on his foot," he was added, suggesting that the police officers had previously been able to extract the suspect from the Seine. There were thuds and cries of pain, apparently from the police van.

"A bicot like that, it does not swim": the IGPN seized after racist remarks made by the police

This Saturday, May 9, the man arrested that evening, a 28-year-old Egyptian, undocumented and domiciled in Drancy (Seine-Saint-Denis) filed a complaint against X for “willful violence […] in meetings, with custom. or threat of a weapon, by persons depositing public authority […] on the grounds of membership or non-membership, true or supposed, of an alleged race, ethnic group, nation or religion of the victim ".

"Kicks, fists and batons"

According to the account made by his lawyer, Me Arié Alimi, Samir E. first threw himself into the Seine, "for fear of police violence". Once on shore, he was reportedly "immediately handcuffed by a police officer, who also put his hood on his head." The man then allegedly received "numerous kicks, fists and batons from all the police officers present on the spot", seven or eight in number, "including the divisional commissioner of Asnières", he accuses.

The police officer who carried out the handcuffing then said that it would have been better for Samir E. to drown. Subjected to a series of blows, bleeding from the nose and mouth, the young man would then have lost consciousness before being then driven to the police van. He was then allegedly kicked and knee in the legs before a female police officer crushed his head with his foot, "bidding Mr. Samir E. to apologize". His cell phone was finally broken with batons. Samir E. was then released on Sunday afternoon.

"We are surprised that the Minister of the Interior in person relayed false information disseminated by the police, adds Me Arié Alimi. My client was not suspected of theft and was not picked up by the police. "

A different story from the police

Two points contradict the elements transcribed on the minutes by the police officers involved in this case. According to this information, a crew of the Anti-Crime Brigade (BAC) is first called at 12:52 am this Sunday, April 26 following the report of a witness, reporting a burglary in progress on an Eiffage construction site on the commune of Asnières. The presence of a lookout and two burglars are then mentioned.

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Before the BAC could intervene on the scene, the three suspects would have fled "at high speed" aboard a green Renault Laguna, in the direction of the neighboring town of Villeneuve-la-Garenne. A chase would have started with the crew of the BAC who received the reinforcement of a patrol from the police station of Asnières. At the Ile-Saint-Denis bridge, the three suspects then decided to abandon their vehicle and continue their escape on foot. Still according to the police account, one of the three individuals, Samir E., "jumps into the Seine to escape his arrest".

The divisional commissioner Vincent Lafon, present that evening, remains on the bank on the side of the Quai d'Asnières, according to the Nanterre prosecution, in the company of a subordinate. The other police officers joined the other bank, quai du Moulin in the town of Ile-Saint-Denis. Thanks to their lamps, they spot Samir E. in the water, visibly "out of breath", and order him to get out quickly "in order to avoid drowning". The fugitive hesitates, lets himself drift and would have ended up being recovered in the water by a police officer. Before being handcuffed, quai du Moulin, at 1h40.

The young man is then transported to the police station of Asnières where he is placed in police custody for "breaking and entering in a place intended for the warehouse of goods". Previously, a doctor examined him and did not find his state of health incompatible with the holding of a police custody, according to the parquet floor of Nanterre.

The change of procedure requested by the lawyer

The suspect was then released on Sunday afternoon, due to lack of material, and the investigation was closed without follow-up. Samir E. was subject to an obligation to leave France insofar as he was in an irregular situation on the national territory, confirms a judicial source.

In parallel with the complaint filed this Saturday, Me Arié Alimi also requests the change of procedure outside the Nanterre prosecution (Hauts-de-Seine) in favor of the Bobigny prosecution (Seine-Saint-Denis), at least for two reasons. First because the facts were committed in Ile-Saint-Denis, commune of Seine-Saint-Denis. The accused police officers also reporting to the Asnières police station, Me Alimi also feared a possible risk of collusion with the neighboring prosecutor's office in Nanterre.

Source: leparis

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