The investigation opened after a complaint from journalist Rémy Buisine, accusing police officers of violence during the May 1 demonstration, was closed without further action, a source close to the investigation said on Wednesday.
The investigation was recently closed for insufficiently characterized offenses, said the prosecution, requested by AFP.
The journalist filed a complaint on May 5, 2023 against two police officers whom he accused of having intentionally hit him.
He was interviewed by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).
Supporting video broadcast on
I have just received a video of the baton and kick that I received from two police officers during the May 1 demonstration.
In this video, I am on the ground after receiving a blow from a shield, a police officer turns away to hit me with a baton… pic.twitter.com/2H7hMtI1wj
— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) May 4, 2023
“One policeman turns away to hit me in the shoulder with a baton, a second immediately kicks me in the head,” said the journalist who made himself known through his coverage, telephoned the hand and live, social movements such as that of the Yellow Vests for the online media Brut.
Rémy Buisine believed he had been “intentionally targeted”.
He claimed on the social network on May 1 that he had also “taken a stun grenade in his feet”.
“My situation is not an isolated case and there are sometimes even more serious situations which are not known to the public,” he indicated on BFM on May 4, 2023.
“A lack of discernment” by the police
“All the protagonists were heard,” detailed the Paris prosecutor’s office.
“Some members of the police said they had not seen his press armband.
The person who was accused of the kick contests and says he wanted to step over it,” added the public prosecutor.
“Regarding the baton blow, it is considered a lack of discernment (…) but given the context and the intensity of the situation, additional legal proceedings did not appear necessary,” said the prosecution.
“After his complaint, Rémy Buisine no longer followed up and did not report to the medical-judicial units, so we do not know what his damage is,” noted the prosecution.
Asked by AFP, the journalist did not react.
The police officer had not received training
The police headquarters had indicated that it had launched an administrative investigation into the facts denounced by the journalist.
The police officer's line manager proposed "a simple reminder of the rule given the extreme intervention conditions and a context for which the officer had received no training", indicated a source close to the case.
This was not the first time that Rémy Buisine denounced police violence.
In 2020, a preliminary investigation was opened in Paris into “violence by a person holding public authority” of which the Brut journalist was already a victim during the evacuation of a migrant camp in Paris.
In March 2023, Reporters Without Borders reported “violent behavior by the police” against journalists who covered demonstrations against pension reform.
The NGO considered that Rémy Buisine had “been attacked twice by agents, and prevented from doing his work”, just like other journalists.