French officer charged after police fracture woman's skull / Photo: © AFP/File
French officer charged after police fracture woman's skull
A policeman has been charged with aggravated assault seven years after a young woman was beaten by more than a dozen officers at a demonstration in southern France, prosecutors said on Friday.
He is the first police officer to be charged for the beating of the 19-year-old on the sidelines of a protest in the city of Marseille in December 2018.
The woman, who has released only her first name, Angelina, was beaten so badly she suffered a skull fracture and other lasting injuries.
On that day, several protests took place in Marseille including a "Yellow Vest" demonstration for economic justice, with 500 officers mobilised.
The saleswoman, who was returning from work with her boyfriend, was hit by a projectile in the thigh.
She was then beaten by around 15 police officers, who kicked and clubbed her.
Her boyfriend was also assaulted by police when he tried to protect her.
One of the police officers has been charged with aggravated assault as well as failure to assist a person in danger, the city's prosecutor's office said in a statement on Friday.
The public prosecutor's office had requested that the policeman be placed in pre-trial detention, but the judge decided to place him under judicial supervision "with a ban on practising his profession".
Another police officer has also been charged with failure to assist a person in danger and placed under judicial supervision.
A total of 10 police officers have been placed under investigation.
The other eight are under investigation for failure to assist a person in danger. One is also being prosecuted for assaulting the woman's boyfriend.
Campaigners called last month for more impartial investigations into allegations of police brutality, complaining that the force investigated its own misconduct and officers were rarely prosecuted.
(W.Budayev--DTZ)
Featured