Thirty and twenty-four months of suspended prison were requested respectively against Maxime D. and Matthieu D., two Parisian police officers suspected of having beaten a man while in police custody in July. The prosecutor also requested, during the trial on Tuesday, October 29, a definitive ban on working in the national police for the two defendants, aged 25 and 32. The sentence will be handed down on January 15.
Already suspended from their duties due to judicial control, they appeared free before the Paris criminal court for “violence aggravated by two circumstances followed by incapacity for more than eight days”.
On the night of July 24 to 25, Mario (name changed) was arrested for insulting the agents who came to reinforce the capital on the eve of the Olympic Games. The 42-year-old man, of Peruvian nationality, is in police custody at the police station of the 5th and 6th arrondissements of Paris. Drunk, he refuses to take off his necklace. In the video surveillance images projected during the hearing, we see Maxime D. putting a key on his arm. So “He insulted me, I slapped him”the police officer admits in court. They then enter the search room which does not have cameras. That’s when Mario accuses the police officer of hitting him at least six times with his baton. He came out with a broken forearm.
At the hearing, Maxime D. acknowledges the beatings, clumsily outlines an explanation for this escalation of violence: the arrest “He tried to headbutt me.”he said to justify the blows of the baton. But Mario denies any violence towards the police officer. He was absent from the hearing. “psychologically weakened” for the matter, according to his lawyer Juliette Chapelle. “If I were here, I would apologize.”assures the accused.
On the walls of his cell, Mario wrote “aid” with his blood. “The cry of despair of a man who thought he was going to die”believe your lawyer. “Fatigue and nervousness” On the eve of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, summoned by the police officer, he struggles to convince the prosecutor handling the case. “particularly surprising”.
Three cases in total against some of the accused
Later, during the night of the events, a second police officer, Matthieu D., began to beat Mario: nine slaps and two kicks. “He insults me, I lose my temper. This in no way justifies my behavior.”the police officer acknowledges at the hearing. His superiors had already raised their “impulsiveness” during the evaluations. On the stand, it is the trembling voice that apologizes for having “cast shame on the institution”. “I was going through a bit of a difficult time”duck. In the video surveillance we see his companions observing the scene, indifferent. “As if nothing was happening”asks President Alain Alçufrom. Maxime D. himself filed a complaint against Mario, denouncing violence on his part. “To cover me”admits on the stand.
Interviewed, two other police officers present that night supported his initial story, before recanting. One of them was sentenced to six months in prison for slanderous denunciation on September 20. The second, Clément B., station chief on the night of the incident, was in the dock on Tuesday. A suspended prison sentence of one year and a ban on police work for six months was requested against him for slanderous denunciation and failure to assist a person in danger.
During this hearing, Maxime D. was also tried for another case dating back to June 2022. He is accused of having sprayed tear gas against a woman he was supposed to accompany after refusing to accept a complaint. Maxime D. and Clément B. will also be tried on March 20, 2025 in a third case, for violence at meetings. In May, after a fight in front of a pub, they were filmed hitting two men who then collapsed to the ground, lifeless, according to a judicial source.
