At least eight people arrested during the demonstration on December 12 in Paris against the very controversial proposal for a comprehensive security law lodged a complaint on Thursday against the prefect of police Didier Lallement, AFP learned from their lawyer Me Arié Alimi.
Read also: Demonstration in Paris: rankings without follow-up or reminders of the law for the most part of those arrested
Among the 124 people who had been in police custody, nearly one hundred had seen the procedure aimed at them dismissed, including almost half after a reminder of the law.
In their complaints, of which AFP had a copy, these demonstrators believe that "
the systematic nature of arrests without reason in the context of offensive leaps (carried out by the police, who thus base on demonstrators, Editor's note), themselves not legitimate, suggests that the use of this technique results from orders given by the civil command authority in complicity with the public prosecutor
”of Paris.
They therefore lodge a complaint with the same prosecutor against X and against the Paris police prefect Didier Lallement for various offenses including “
obstruction of freedom of demonstration
”, “
willful violence
” by a person holding public authority, “
slanderous denunciation
"Or"
false in public writing
".
They recall that the demonstration, declared, had been the subject of a large-scale police device, announced as aiming to arrest any person suspected of wanting to constitute a "
bloc
".
But for the complainants, the
police
"
charged the procession and proceeded to arrests at random
", "
accompanied by unjustified acts of violence
" and being all the more "
abusive
" in that "
no offense is 'was committed
'.
For them, the placements in
police
custody which followed are "
arbitrary
" because "
reports written by police officers (them) imputed the commission of offenses
" even though "
no judicial follow-up was ) given to (their) procedure
”.
Among these eight arrested plaintiffs, aged 21 to 50 years and coming from all over France, seven claim to have been released without prosecution.
The Paris Criminal Court acquitted the last of the proceedings.
At least seven other complaints from protesters must be filed soon, according to Me Alimi.
The discrepancy between the number of arrests and the actual prosecutions is regularly the subject of criticism from defenders of civil liberties and police officers, but for opposite reasons.
Paris prosecutor Rémy Heitz indicated to the National Assembly on November 25 that during the “
yellow vests
” demonstrations
from late 2018 to late 2019, 27% of police custody had resulted in prosecution.