Suspicions of police violence on an undocumented Malian: the investigation entrusted to the IGPN


An investigation into suspicions of illegitimate police violence after the arrest of an undocumented Malian in the capital was entrusted on September 17 to the IGPN, the police force, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Monday, confirming information from Mediapart. This investigation was opened the same day of the facts for “violence by persons holding public authority”. Another investigation was also opened that same day for “violence against a person holding public authority, rebellion and contempt”, and entrusted to the 18th arrondissement police station, the prosecution said.

Arrested after a drunken birthday party

According to Mediapart, Seriba, 30, an undocumented Malian, is celebrating his birthday with his friends in the courtyard of his building when he is arrested during the night. According to the police headquarters, he was arrested around 3:30 am “in a state of inebriation by a crew from the 18th arrondissement intervening for disruptors in front of a building”. On CCTV images revealed by Mediapart, we see a tense face-to-face between Seriba and a policeman before he is brought to the ground and handcuffed. According to testimonies collected by the news site, a taser was given by a police officer.

A police source told AFP that he was drugged with nitrous oxide, and that the Taser had been used “twice on him”. He told Médiapart that once boarded a police vehicle and then at the police station, he had received several Taser shots “in the testicles”, and was beaten, which led to his hospitalization.

“A case of racist police violence”, says his lawyer

According to a medical report unveiled by the online news site and consulted by AFP, Seriba, examined by a doctor from the Medico-Legal Unit (UMJ), declared “to have been the victim of violence by police officers during of his arrest”, having “been tackled to the ground then in the police vehicle, he was beaten with punches in the face, chest.” The doctor grants him 45 days of temporary interruption of work (ITT), evoking a “probable fracture of the radius”, a “significant psychological shock”, a “cranial trauma” and “lesions at the level of the genitals compatible with traces of Tasers”.

But a second medical examination reduced this ITT to 6 days, said the prosecution. According to his lawyer, Me Arié Alimi, he is also the subject of racist remarks. Seriba filed a complaint with the IGPN on October 6. “This is again a case of police violence of a particularly worrying racist nature. It is part of a systemic racism of the police institution. The Paris police headquarters, the IGPN as well as many police officers have tried to avoid its revelation”, denounced Me Alimi.

His client is also being prosecuted before the criminal court for “illicit use of narcotics” and “contempt of person depositary of public authority” for facts dating from October 6, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. He will appear on February 17, said Me Alimi. According to images filmed by a witness, broadcast by Mediapart, we see the police searching several times in his bag. “The videos and testimonies show that his bag was empty and that it was the police who voluntarily introduced narcotics into the bag after his arrest,” Alimi told AFP.



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