“
Physical and moral fatigue
”.
BRAV-M police officers recorded without their knowledge gave a reason for their threatening and humiliating remarks towards demonstrators arrested in Paris during a wild procession against the pension reform, according to internal reports consulted by AFP.
AFP had access to the reports of seven agents of the Motorized Violent Action Repression Brigade (BRAV-M) who intervened on the evening of the events, on the night of March 20 to 21.
These reports were written between March 25, the day after the audio was revealed by
Le Monde
and
Loopsider
, and March 31, a week later.
Our basic and vital needs have not been met.
Brigadier Benoît A., member of BRAV-M
They are addressed to their divisional commander, head of the 21st intervention company from which the officials come.
Their crew, the "
BRAV-Mike 4
", had taken up duty at 10:30 a.m., according to peacekeeper Yann C. It was past 11 p.m. when he and his colleagues arrested seven young people, suspected of having set fire to garbage cans .
In his report, Brigadier Benoît A., estimates that, that evening, "
physical and moral fatigue was at its highest threshold, forcing us to act well beyond our capacities
".
The officer describes "
shifts of fourteen hours, even sixteen hours
" during which "
our basic and vital needs were not respected, hydrating and eating were very complicated
", he writes.
“Provocations” and “arrogance”
"
Some of us, myself included, had to take medication to block their intestinal transit because it was impossible to access and have time to go to the toilet
," he adds.
Peacekeeper Pierre L. believes that “
all of that may have played into this situation that I did not deal with with the usual professionalism
”.
Almost all also say they acted in reaction to the "
provocations
" and "
arrogance
" of one of the arrested, Souleyman, a Chadian student, the main target of the police in the recording.
Some also refer to the " very agitated
" or even "
virulent "
behavior
of Salomé, a young woman also a member of the arrested group.
Souleyman, 23, and Salomé, 22, filed a complaint against the police.
Souleyman's complaint, which reports that a policeman "
grabbed him by the sex
" and insulted him by saying "
you don't even have balls
", also targets acts of sexual assault and racist offences.
Since the revelation of the facts, the officials have been removed from the public highway and no longer intervene in the demonstrations, but have not been suspended.
Two investigations, administrative and judicial, were opened and entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).