The Lyon public prosecutor's office requested the referral to the criminal court of the commissioner who ordered the police charge during which a septuagenarian, Geneviève Legay, was seriously injured in 2019 in Nice, according to the official's lawyer.
The divisional commissioner Rabah Souchi is dismissed from the head of complicity in voluntary violence, indicated Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, confirming information published Thursday evening by Mediapart.
“
The prosecution performs a balancing act to prosecute my client for complicity in willful violence, without prosecuting the main perpetrator of the so-called violence.
We are going to challenge this position,
”Me Liénard told AFP.
To read also "I took a blow of truncheon": Geneviève Legay, militant wounded in Nice, testifies
On March 23, 2019 in Nice, the Attac activist had several broken ribs and skull fractures by being thrown to the ground during a police charge ordered to disperse a prohibited demonstration of "
yellow vests
". Divisional Commissioner Rabah Souchi was in charge of law enforcement operations that day. In its investigation report, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) had found the police charge disproportionate because of "
inappropriate
"
orders
. Commissioner Souchi was indicted last November as part of a disoriented investigation in Lyon, after a heated controversy around the case fueled by the contradictory views of the authorities.
To read also "Yellow vests": hundreds of people gathered in Nice in support of the injured activist
The public prosecutor of Nice at the time of the facts had first denied any physical contact between the victim and the police, remarks echoed by President Emmanuel Macron.
After the exploitation of video surveillance images, the magistrate had recognized that Geneviève Legay had been pushed by a police officer.
“
In the future, those responsible for maintaining order will have to report police violence to the correctional courts.
We are waiting for the Interior Ministry to draw all the consequences,
”commented Thursday evening's lawyer for the septuagenarian, Me Arié Alimi.
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