Linda Kebbab is the national delegate of the SGP Police-FO Unit. She published in 2020 with the Stock
Gardienne de la paix et de la revolte
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.
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FIGAROVOX.- This weekend, in Épinay-sur-Seine, police officers were attacked and the appeal trial of the Viry-Châtillon attacks, in 2016, took place.
Only five of the sixteen accused have been convicted.
What do these events represent for the police force?
Linda KEBBAB.-
As police officers, we are confronted on a daily basis with violence, the rejection of authority, of laws and we are unfortunately on the front line in the face of this rejection.
In Épinay-sur-Seine, the police are confronted with drug trafficking and they carry out meticulous work to try not to “
cede
” the territory to the traffickers. The police pay him by being the victim of threats, in particular with these photos stolen and displayed of themselves and members of their families. We face a constant distrust of authority and feel a sense of impunity.
With the Viry-Châtillon affair, we are faced with barbaric and cruel acts.
When we see the behavior adopted by the individuals on trial throughout the trial, we see a yawning gap between the perpetrators of the attack and the rest of society.
These people don't care about human life, let alone when the person is in a uniform.
They have no vocation to respect living together.
Acquittals were pronounced and in particular one of the defendants who had however been formally identified by a colleague who was the victim of the attack.
Do you feel like a kind of abandonment on the part of the judicial institution after the decision rendered on Saturday?
I usually try not to comment on court decisions.
Nevertheless, concerning Viry-Châtillon, which is a fairly symptomatic decision of the elements pointed out in public opinion, there is a disproportion between the sanctions provided for by the penal code and the sanctions applied.
The convictions at first instance were deemed too low by the prosecution and Saturday's convictions are even lower than at first instance.
Acquittals were pronounced and in particular one of the defendants who had however been formally identified by a colleague who was the victim of the attack.
This is moreover the element which is at the origin of the clashes within the courtroom, the convicts reproaching this individual to be the first responsible and not to be sanctioned.
To read also:
Police officers burned in Viry-Châtillon: "This verdict is a judicial shipwreck"
Despite these overwhelming elements, we have been unable to bring this guilt to justice.
Why?
Because of this trial which was one of pressure and threats on witnesses.
Some have disappeared in the wild and made the investigation difficult.
It is repeated to the popular jury during trials in the Assize Court, that the doubt should benefit the accused.
Only, when this doubt is orchestrated by the defendants themselves, it should constitute an admission of guilt.
It is necessary to reform the institution.
I do not wish to worsen the gap which now exists between the police and judicial institutions, but these events demonstrate a crisis which affects them.
The victims feel a deep anger at the decision that has been rendered.
It sends a very bad signal to the public opinion which can feel ostracized and a feeling of legitimate concern, by believing that justice does not conform to its expectations.
I don't want to shame the magistrates.
The police no longer believe in the capacity of the judiciary to repair the damage caused and to protect it.
On the other hand, I think it is necessary to hold accountable the political leaders who put the institutions in this state and who find themselves in the incapacity to bring a penal answer in accordance with the wishes of the public opinion.
As a result of these events, are you worried about the safety of the police?
This decision is a legal wreck.
We deplore the outcome of this trial.
This criminal response is growing concern within the police.
She finds herself attacked in a violent and gratuitous manner and finds herself increasingly unable to carry out her missions in the neighborhoods.
We fear for our physical integrity, the number of wounded officers on mission increases every year.
This kind of decision only encourages delinquents to attack the police officers whom they have made their main target and by force, the police no longer believe in the capacity of the judicial institution to repair the damage caused and to protect them.
To read also:
Police officers burned in Viry-Châtillon: "A judicial decision which reinforces the feeling of impunity"
They feel a lack of justice in relation to the prejudices they suffer.
These phenomena should push the whole of society to question the way in which institutions respond to these misdeeds.
A split has been created between these individuals who want to destroy our model of society and the rest of the population.
The police are aware that they cannot complete their mission on the ground if they themselves suffer this violence and do not obtain any compensation in return.
What, in your opinion, are the solutions that can be found to respond to the police's uneasiness?
First, political discourse becomes boring and inaudible by dint of not being followed up.
We constantly hear “
the perpetrators will be severely punished
” and “
you have our support
”.
It is time for politicians to stop communicating about police misfortune.
Then, the questioning of institutions goes through the questioning of the French administration.
What means are implemented to make justice work better?
Viry-Châtillon revealed a phenomenon which is scandalous, it is the abandonment of the hierarchy towards our colleagues on this affair.
Viry-Châtillon revealed a phenomenon which is scandalous, it is the abandonment of the hierarchy towards our colleagues on this affair.
No material, logistical or support was provided for the colleagues who were victims of the assault.
No member of the hierarchy was present.
They found themselves alone in having to pay for hotels and taxis in connection with the trial and did not benefit from any police protection.
It is the gendarmerie which volunteered to exfiltrate one of the policewomen present.
Cases of absences raise the question of the management of the police institution.
The first to abandon us are our employers!
The affected colleagues were not even entitled to a gesture of moral support from the hierarchy.
It's a shame!
We are still facing one of the most serious cases involving police officers in years.
Police unions keep asking police officers and their families to be taken care of, especially when they have to move urgently from their place of work for security reasons.
We would also like that judicial cases concerning police officers no longer fall within the purview of a traditional criminal court and that the decision no longer rests on the popular juries, which de facto have an opinion and a priori on the function of the fact that our job is the only one where we judge people according to their profession.