This happened a week ago, but the video – which initially appeared on France
Channel 2 – was unavailable until now. (It “mysteriously” did not appear on
channel 2’s online archive.)
Briefly, this is what the voice-over says:
“In La Courneuve Monday evening (Nov. 7th), a young man was released
from police custody where he had been held for willfully damaging property.
The police jumped on him, through him to the ground; two of them hit him
again and again. In all, eight police officers were involved. The young man
received several cuts on his face and his feet. He is picked up, handcuffed,
and taken back to the police station.”
La Courneuve is, incidentally, the suburb which Sarkozy said he would clean
"with Karcher" (a heavy duty cleaning product).
The police obviously had no idea they were being filmed, and when the video
was aired last week all eight ended were initially suspended. On Friday five
of eight cops were brought to court - the three others were released. Of these
five, four were released on their own recognizance while one was kept in
custody over the weekend.
This caused the police and the far-right to freak out. The Alliance 93 police
union issued a call for police to only provide the minimum of service as an
on-the-job protest. And Saturday. Philippe de Villiers (far-right leader who
is trying to replace Le Pen in this regard) declared his personal solidarity
with the police, and denounced the “violently outrageous penalties” imposed
on the police shown in the video.
On Saturday, the victim of this police attack was once again arrested again,
accused of throwing rocks at firefighters. And today the cop who had been
held over he weekend was released. Police justice yet again…
Other news:
According to an Ifop survey carried out for the Journal du dimanche,
Nicolas Sarkozy and Dominique Villepin are the two public figures that ‘people
trust the most to solve the problems in the suburbs.’ According to the same
poll, President Jacques Chirac received a 29% approval rating, whereas far-right
Natinoal Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen received a 24% confidence rating.
Muhttin Altun, the third young person who entered into the electrical
substation in Clichy-sous-Bois, told an investigating judge on Thursday that
the police did indeed chase them, according to one of his lawyers.
Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy was forced to run away from
angry youths in central Paris, on his first public outing since the rebellion
began over two weeks ago. According to the Telegraph Sarkozy “came under a
vicious verbal assault from youngsters on Saturday night. The former protégé
of President Jacques Chirac was forced to listen to chants of "Sarkozy resign!",
"Liberté, egalité, fraternité - but not in council estates",
and several insults directed at his mother. He ducked into his car, but dozens
of youths then rushed past the police and chased his motorcade towards the
Arc de Triomphe.”
This originally came from my blog - Sketchy Thoughts
- and is one of a number of pieces i wrote or translated regarding the
riots that rocked France in October and November 2005. To see the a complete
list of such posts, i suggest you check out the 2005 Riots In France page on the Kersplebedeb
site.