The facts go back to the last weekend and took place in the commune of Heyrieux, in the north of Isère. Axel, 16, broke up a few months ago with his girlfriend Lydia. A difficult break. The teenager blames him. Saturday, with other young people, Axel spends the evening with a friend, in a house in a subdivision of Heyrieux. A little after midnight, a BMW 4 x 4 arrives in front of the house. Four men get out. There is Lydia's father, and three of her friends, including a non-commissioned officer of the gendarmerie, in civilian clothes.
“I had put on my helmet to set off on my motorcycle. Lydia's father said to me: we need to talk , says Axel. One of his friends came up to me and punched me in the head first. Other blows followed. He knocked to hurt. I was afraid for my life. Fortunately, I had my helmet. This is what saved me. Under the force of the blows, the visor of Axel's helmet breaks. The adolescent is affected in the jaw, in the neck.
But it is above all the soldier's behavior that will amaze him. "I knew he was a policeman because he is the father of a girl I know. When I was attacked, I thought he would intervene. But he did not move. It is as if he agreed with what was going on. One of my friends, Franck, tried to help me. But the gendarme prevented him by putting his arm to spread it. He said to him: don't make the man , to make him understand that he didn't have to intervene. There was non-assistance to anyone in danger, ”says Axel. Franck confirms: “The gendarme pushed me away to prevent me from coming to the rescue of Axel. On a video, we see the gendarme say to the young people "Don't do the men" to dissuade them from intervening.
10 days of ITT
Finally, the authors of the punitive expedition, who smelled of alcohol according to the adolescents present, get back in their car and leave the place. A few hours later, a doctor will prescribe 10 days of ITT to Axel, who is now wearing a neck brace. The adolescent is also traumatized on the psychological level. But the case does not end there.
Sunday afternoon, Axel and his father Christian go to the gendarmerie of Heyrieux to file a complaint. “While an investigator was collecting my testimony, I turned around and saw the gendarme, the one who was present during the attack. Even the investigator was flabbergasted to see him there. And the gendarme said to me: tell the truth. I helped you. I even separated you when he hit you . Which is wrong. I experienced this as a pressure. The investigator got angry and said , well, that's enough, you're going out . Then she told me that he was not allowed to be there. "
Same surprise for Axel's father: “A man came into the hearing room and said to me: who are you? I replied that I was Axel's father. He then said to me: I am the gendarme. I hear you want to break me? Three other gendarmes then intervened to get him out. "
His intrusion into the gendarmerie challenges
Maître Bernard Boulloud, the lawyer for Axel and his father, contacted the General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie. “The behavior of this policeman is extremely serious. While his job gives him the mission to protect the population, he is obviously complicit in a settlement of accounts, in a meeting, on a 16 year old minor. And his intrusion into the gendarmerie of Heyrieux constitutes the unacceptable mark of pressure on the victim, "said the lawyer, who wondered:" How did he get into this gendarmerie? Who warned him of the victim's presence? "
A complaint will be filed with the Vienna public prosecutor's office. The gendarme targeted has the rank of Major and directs a brigade in Nord-Isère. He is also a city councilor. The commander of the Isère gendarmerie group, Colonel Yves Marzin, confirmed that an investigation by the Vienna Research Brigade was underway, under the authority of the prosecution, adding that "any behavior not in accordance with the rules of 'ethics of the gendarmerie will be sanctioned'. For the Vienna prosecutor, Audrey Quey, "all the light will be made on this case, and in all objectivity".
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(All first names have been changed)
