Pepper bomb versus punch?
The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) must investigate alleged acts of violence by a police officer against a demonstrator opposed to a conference of the former “Manif pour tous” organized at the beginning of February, AFP learned on Thursday, confirming information from the regional daily La Marseillaise.
The Marseille prosecutor's office indicated that it had opened "an investigation into the counts of violence by a person holding public authority entrusted to the IGPN".
On February 1, a demonstration was organized in Marseille by several LGBT and left-wing collectives to oppose a conference planned for the same evening by Ludovine de La Rochère, co-founder of the Manif pour tous, a collective which had opposed it from 2012 on the opening of marriage to same-sex couples, entitled “Wokism and its dangers for the family”.
“His eye came out of its socket”
Gathered in front of the building which hosted the conference, “the demonstrators peacefully threw confetti at the participants who entered”, according to Me Clémence Lachkar, lawyer for the plaintiff.
The tension reportedly rose a notch and a local elected official present at the counter-demonstration “received a blow in the back”.
Thinking that the perpetrator of the attack was "a far-right thug" because he "had launched homophobic insults at the demonstrators and made physical threats" against them, the complainant, who was part of the security service of the demonstration , defended the elected official by spraying this person with pepper spray.
“Applying the rule” provided for this type of situation, he explained to La Provence.
Also read: Use of their weapons by the police: the difficult investigations of the IGPN
However, it was a priori a plainclothes police officer, “who did not wear a badge and who at no time wanted to declare his identity”, according to the lawyer.
He then allegedly delivered a violent punch to the eye of Me Clémence Lachkar's client.
“He blew his nose the next day and his eye came out of its socket,” his optic nerve was affected and he risks losing his sight, his lawyer said.
After several consultations with doctors, it was concluded that the complainant, who was prescribed a 10-day total incapacity for work (ITT), has a fractured orbital floor.
His optic nerve would be damaged, reports La Provence.
He also suffers from a fracture of the anterior wall of the maxillary sinus, according to the regional daily.
As a result, he filed a complaint against the police officer with the Marseille prosecutor's office on Wednesday.