The Paris prosecutor’s office requested on Tuesday, October 29, a trial for “homicide” against three police officers, at the end of the investigation into the death of delivery driver Cédric Chouviat in the capital in 2020, Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned Wednesday. October 30 from a source close to the matter, confirming information from Half part.
According to the final indictment consulted by AFP, the prosecution emphasizes that the three officials committed “negligence” AND “Their combined actions during the arrest turned out to be the direct cause of the involuntary manslaughter.”.
“It seems obvious to us that a trial is necessary. However, it should not be devalued by choosing a qualification that is legal nonsense because it does not reflect the reality of the voluntary nature of the violence suffered.The lawyers of the victim’s family, M., reacted.are William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth. “It is a caricature of a totally exculpatory treatment. “We question this characterization and express our indignation along with the family.”they added. It is now up to the investigating judge whether or not to send the police officers to trial.
On January 3, 2020, Cédric Chouviat, a 42-year-old father, was pinned to the ground with his motorcycle helmet on his head during a police check, causing him discomfort. Hospitalized in critical condition, he was pronounced dead on January 5.
“I’m suffocating”
Three of the four police officers who participated in the control, who were then between 23 and 33 years old, were charged in July 2020 with homicide within the framework of the open judicial investigation, while a fourth police officer was placed under investigation in his capacity. assisted witness intermediate.
Several medical reports have questioned the arrest actions of the police officers. At the same time, Cédric Chouviat’s family raises the question of the intentionality of the violence on her part, accusing her of not having reacted quickly enough to the victim’s signs of suffocation, who repeated them nine times. “I’m suffocating” in thirteen seconds before feeling bad.
The police questioned having perceived the “obvious signs” of the asphyxiation of Cédric Chouviat. “If we had only heard once” the expression “I’m suffocating”, “we would have stopped”had certified the main defendant before the investigating judge in July 2020.
In January 2023, a reenactment was organized at the site of Cédric Chouviat’s death, the Quai Jacques-Chirac, 100 meters from the Eiffel Tower, to determine whether the police could hear his screams of agony. Before the summer of 2023, a reconstruction was organized inside with the aim of examining the actions of the police officers and their consequences on the life of Cédric Chouviat.
