The death of Cédric Chouviat during a police check last Friday in Paris, triggered a chain reaction. After the filing of a complaint Tuesday morning by the family of this 42-year-old delivery man and the revelation of the first results of the autopsy, the Paris prosecutor's office decided to open a judicial investigation for "manslaughter". At the same time, between Tuesday and Wednesday, the Minister of the Interior spoke twice on this subject, the second time on the sidelines of the wishes of the police union Unsa-Police.
"There is an investigation that has started and that has revealed elements that seriously question," said Christophe Castaner on this occasion. I hope that all transparency is done ”. In the process, it was the lawyer for the four police officers (three men and a woman) involved in the traffic control of Cédric Chouviat who spoke. "This case is first of all a terrible tragedy for the family of Mr. Chouviat […] It is also a tragedy for the four officials who are very bruised by the death of Mr. Chouviat", first exposed Mr. Thibault de Montbrial during a press conference held at his office. Before embarking on the story of the police version.
"Mr. Chouviat adopts an attitude of verbal and physical provocation"
"It all starts at a traffic light where the Police Secours crew is on a classic mission to secure the borough," said Me de Montbrial. He sees an individual passing on a scooter with a mobile phone in his hand. One of the police lowered his window and shouted to the driver of the scooter, "phone!" ". The driver replied with a contemptuous gesture towards the police. They decide to control the driver and go to his level. The driver stops. From the start of the check, Mr. Chouviat adopted an attitude of verbal and physical provocation with a multiplication of advances towards one or the other of the police officers, shouting "police violence!" "When one of the police officers puts him back at a safe distance, that is to say one meter from their person," explains the lawyer.
Death of Cédric Chouviat: images of his arrest
Still according to Me de Montbrial, “the police kept calm during the ten minutes of this check. After this check, they give Mr. Chouviat his identity papers and inform him that he will be fined because of the telephone (which he carried in his hand) and that he will receive the minutes. . The police get back into their car. At that time, Mr. Chouviat returned to contact with the police car, on the driver's side. He commits another outrage against the crew who decides to arrest him. He resists and rebels. The police officers hired that morning are less sturdy than Mr. Chouviat and are struggling to control it ", continues the police defender, who continues his story:" A melee is formed with Mr. Chouviat and the police and this melee falls on the track circulation. He is brought to the side to ensure his safety and that of the police. Even on the ground, Mr. Chouviat does not let himself be handcuffed and continues to struggle. At this point, I stop my explanations. The investigation will establish whether or not faults have been committed. But according to the information transmitted by the police themselves, it does not seem to me that the proportionality of the force that the police are entitled to use has been exceeded, "concludes the lawyer.
According to the first results of the autopsy communicated Tuesday by the Paris prosecutor's office, Cédric Chouviat was nevertheless the victim of asphyxia with a fractured larynx, before being taken to the emergency room in a state of brain death. Contacted this Wednesday evening, Me Arié Alimi, lawyer for the Chouviat family, points out several inconsistencies between the story of the police version made by his colleague and the videos and testimonies collected by him. "Two witnesses of the scene who do not know each other tell us both that Cédric was taken by a choke key while he was still standing and then pressed to the ground on his stomach, pointed out Me Alimi. More generally, this classic defense strategy aims to preserve the image of the police as a whole instead of ensuring the individual defense of the police officers concerned ”. A white march is to take place on Sunday afternoon in Levallois-Perret, the town where this father of five was domiciled.
