An explosive case of police violence in the Paris suburbs ends with the conviction of 3 officers
A French court has convicted three police officers of “voluntary violence” towards a youth worker in a Paris suburb who suffered serious injuries to his rectum after being assaulted with a police baton during an identity check seven years ago
PARIS (AP) — A French court convicted three police officers of “voluntary violence” towards a youth worker in a Paris suburb who suffered serious injuries to his rectum after being assaulted with a police baton during an identity check seven years ago.
All three officers received suspended prison sentences. The officer who used the baton to strike Théo Luhaka was given a suspended sentence of 12 months, while the other two present on the scene got three months each.
Luhaka, a youth worker of African descent who was 22 years old at the time, filed a lawsuit accusing the officers of assaulting him during an identity check in February 2017 in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a working-class suburb northeast of Paris with a large immigrant population.
Rights defenders have long complained of French police abusing their powers during identity checks on people of color.
