In Polynesia, the four police officers filmed beating an accused disabled person

Four police officers accused of acts of violence committed against a person with a disability, filmed and disseminated on social networks, have been charged, announced on Monday night, September 30 (Tuesday, September 1^Ahem October morning in Paris) in Papeete, prosecutor Solène Belaouar.

The two peace guards and the two deputy police officers were charged with “aggravated intentional violence committed by persons holding public authority, in an assembly and against a vulnerable person, as well as forgery”the prosecutor said. were placed “under strict judicial supervision, including in particular a ban on practicing the police profession”he added.

On Friday night, the four officers intervened in a sensitive area of ​​Papeete, where a man in a wheelchair was sleeping on the street. In the video filmed at night, from the balcony of a building, the four police officers surround the man before one of the officers lifts the chair and knocks him to the ground. The man manages to sit on the ground, but the same police officer hits him hard in the face and the man falls again.

A handrail “not in accordance with reality”

The video, 49 seconds long, is not contextualized. At no time does the disabled person show signs of aggression. According to the summary of the events written on Friday night by these agents, to which AFP had access, they state that the man in a wheelchair was already injured in the head when they arrived. Police describe him as “very excited, flirting with indignation and uncooperative” and specify what it would be “He fell off the chair by himself.”.

Later, after the video was broadcast, they recognized that this railing “did not fit reality”. While in police custody, the 27-year-old police aide responsible for the violence indicated “having made the man fall involuntarily and then beaten him in anger, arguing in particular that the victim was drunk and kept insulting them”according to the prosecution. The victim is a 48-year-old man. he presents “Superficial traumatic injuries to the face, right arm, left elbow and both knees”.