The prison sentence of a police officer convicted of hitting a "
yellow vest
" during a demonstration in Strasbourg in January 2019 was reduced by the Colmar court of appeal on Thursday 26 November.
The 47-year-old police officer, convicted of aggravated violence with a weapon and by a person holding public authority, received a ten-month suspended prison sentence, with a ban on carrying a weapon for two years.
Read also: A police officer sentenced to 8 months suspended for violence on "yellow vests"
At first instance, the Strasbourg Criminal Court had sentenced him in June to eighteen months suspended prison sentence and five years of ban on carrying weapons.
Occupying from an administrative post in Strasbourg, the police officer will have to compensate the victim and also incur a disciplinary sanction.
On January 19, 2019, at the end of the ninth Saturday of demonstrations of the "
yellow vests
", while the atmosphere is tense between demonstrators and the police, Marlène Lutz, 62, local figure of the movement, unarmed and moving at the time with a crutch, received a blow to the head, earning him eleven stitches in the scalp.
The report of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), based on CCTV images, indicated that the police officer "
was not threatened directly or personally by a demonstrator or by the victim
".
"
In retrospect, I made a mistake
", admitted this peacekeeper since 1997, affirming to remember having carried "
only one blow of stick, which (he) deeply regrets
".
"
I had done absolutely nothing, I needed a crutch to walk and I was clubbed from behind, for free,
" lamented the victim.
Perfectly "
aware of the very difficult work of the police, especially during these recurring and sometimes violent demonstrations
", General Counsel Marie-Hélène Calvano spoke of "
a recognized illegitimate hit, and therefore a manifest slippage to be sanctioned without particular benevolence
”.
The prosecution had requested twelve months suspended prison sentence.