Seven years after having denounced police violence, four 24-year-old men, who had filed a complaint at the end of 2015 against Parisian police officers, were found guilty of slanderous denunciation. They were sentenced, Monday, May 30, to compensate some of the officials concerned.
The defendants were given a penalty-compensation sentence consisting of “compensate for the damage caused within a period of one year”. By default, “The penalty is three months’ imprisonment”, decided the Paris Criminal Court. They will have to pay between 3,000 and 9,000 euros in damages for moral damage to the police. These sentences are accompanied by a provisional execution: they will apply, even if the defendants appeal. The lawyer for the defendants, not having had access to the entire decision, did not wish to react immediately.
“I am very satisfied with this decision which finally establishes the truth in this case. The police officers I represent did not commit any fault but were victims of this instrumentalization by the complainants”said their lawyer, Mr.e Jerome Andrey.
On December 17, 2015, eighteen minors and young adults filed a complaint against eleven police officers from the neighborhood support brigade (BSQ) of 12e district of the capital, denouncing violence, sexual assault or discrimination.
At the end of the investigation, most of the facts had been dismissed, but four officials had been sent back to court: on April 4, 2018, three of them had been sentenced to five months in prison suspended for violence. On appeal, however, they were released on October 23, 2020.
Prosecutions
At the same time, seven police officers had brought slanderous charges against five plaintiffs through direct citations. The direct summons allows a person to summon an alleged perpetrator directly to court, without a prior investigation being conducted. It is up to the person citing to collect the evidence of guilt.
During the hearing on April 4, the court dismissed one of the summonses on a procedural point. Denouncing a “absolutely staggering media coverage [fin 2015] even before the complaint is filed”Me Andrei had criticized in his argument a “reversal of roles”talking about ” lies “ and a complaint “built from scratch”.
“Conspiracy”had castigated in reply Me Slim Ben Achour, denouncing a “gag procedure”. The lawyer recalled that, in this file with drawers, the State had been sentenced in civil proceedings for ” heavy mistake “in October 2020, to pay nearly 70,000 euros to eleven of the plaintiffs for certain facts – police violence, unjustified identity checks and irregular arrests.