Five police officers from Évreux (Eure) were sentenced Friday to fines ranging from 150 to 1000 euros, for racist remarks that targeted a former black colleague in a WhatsApp discussion group in 2019. In its judgment, the police court Évreux recognized the five defendants guilty "of non-public insults of a racist nature," said the prosecutor of the Republic of Évreux Dominique Puechmaille.
Two of the agents were sentenced to fines of 1,000 euros, two others to fines of 400 and 150 euros, and a fifth accused of a fine of 1,000 euros including a suspended 500 euros, the prosecutor said.
The prosecution had requested up to 1000 euros firm in particular against the one he considered to be the “ideologue” of the group, at the hearing in Evreux on September 3.
"There are communities that do not like what I represent, the white male, and I apply a form of reciprocity," said the defendant at the trial.
"Particularly foul words"
Referring to an "atypical procedure before a police court" with "particularly foul racist remarks", the prosecution recalled at the trial that "the police officer must be the guarantor of the values of the rule of law, in particular the equality of citizens ”, stressing that there was“ no question of putting the police on trial ”.
The case began after the complaint in Rouen (Seine-Maritime) in December 2019, of a black police officer assigned to the Administrative and Legal Assistance Unit against six of his colleagues.
He had discovered that he was the target of racist comments on WhatsApp.
On the voicemail, the police had repeatedly called him a "nigger" doing "anything because he is black".
In court, the five defendants had recognized the words attributed to them.
On the civilian side, the five police officers were also ordered to pay "one euro" to the MRAP and SOS Racisme, civil parties in this trial.