Justice has ruled. On February 15, 2022, Médiapart revealed a recording in which a police officer could be heard telling a colleague abouta woman who filed a complaint for “sexual assault while drunk”, that she was a “fat bitch”. Élodie, aged 34, went to a police station in Paris before an officer contacted her the next day by telephone to hear her version of the facts again. When she did not pick up, the police officer left her a message before insulting her. When he thought he had hung up, he said: “I’ll call her back anyway because she must be having a hard time.”before reading extracts from his complaint. “No, but the complaint is incomprehensible. […] We don’t even know who she’s talking about. […] But that doesn’t make sense.”, he was annoyed. Facing his colleague, this police officer then blurted out: “She’s really a bitch. […] Damn, she refuses confrontation and the bitch. As if by chance. In fact, it was just to bust his balls, I’m sure. […] Damn, big bitch”. A recording which created a wave of indignation in public opinion.
“The judicial institution continues to protect the police”
Thursday January 25, 2024, the Paris police court acquitted the police officer who made these comments. For the AFP, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Me Arié Alimi, deplored: “The president of the police court considered that the fact, for a police officer, of saying to a sexually assaulted woman ‘fat bitch’, was not a sexist insult. The judicial institution continues to protect the police officers . My client wishes to appeal to change judicial customs“. In December 2023, during his hearing, the police officer assured that the insults were not directed at his colleagues, which would have constituted a “non-public insult based on sex”. The prosecution then suggested that he be convicted, but exempted from punishment because of his “exemplary journey”. If the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, had considered that this police officer had not “no longer his place” in the police, he will however be able to continue to practice.