The three police officers involved in the violent arrest of Théo, who in 2017 relaunched the debate on police violence, will be tried, a rare occurrence, before an assize court for "willful violence", told AFP the prosecution de Bobigny, confirming information from BFMTV.
The examining magistrate in charge of the investigation into the assault of this young black man from Aulnay-sous-Bois decided to refer the main accused to the courts for willful violence resulting in mutilation or permanent disability, and of the three officials for willful violence with aggravating circumstances.
On the other hand, she dropped the rape prosecution, as recommended by the prosecution.
A dismissal was also ordered concerning a fourth police officer who had witnessed the scene.
Théodore Luhaka, 22 at the time, was seriously injured by a baton in the rectal area.
It is because he is now disabled for life that the police officers will be tried by an Assize Court, a criminal jurisdiction competent to judge crimes.
Theo case: "I risk being disabled for life"
On February 2, 2017, shortly before 5 p.m., Théo was arrested in the city of 3,000 in Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), a scene filmed by CCTV cameras.
While the police try to immobilize him, the young man struggles and then collapses.
He is then taken a few meters away, out of the field of the camera.
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Five days after the events and their national impact, Théo Luhaka had received a visit to the hospital from François Hollande, then President of the Republic.
On his bed, the young man had appealed for calm, after tensions during support rallies.
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For Théo's lawyer, the report of the Defender of Rights "shows the excesses of the police"
The Defender of Rights Claire Hédon had called on Tuesday for “disciplinary proceedings” against the four police officers who arrested Théo Luhaka.
In a public decision addressed to the Ministry of the Interior, Claire Hédon notes the “breaches” of the four officials in police ethics and asks for disciplinary sanctions, “independently” of the trial at the assizes desired by the Bobigny prosecutor's office.
It also recommends disciplinary sanctions against the former commissioner of Aulnay and an administrative inspection, facing "the accumulation of breaches" in this case.