It is a sensitive trial which opened this Tuesday, January 9 before the Assize Court of Seine-Saint-Denis. Three police officers are on trial for “intentional violence” during the arrest of Théo Luhaka, in 2017 in Aulnay-sous-Bois, in the northern suburbs of Paris, including a baton blow in the anal area which left irreversible after-effects on the young man, then aged 22. After the usual procedural formalities, the accused had the opportunity to say a few words.
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Hearing report, Laura Martel
It was in front of a packed room that the hearing opened in Bobigny. Without a word, wrapped up in a big blue down jacket, Théo Luhaka took a place on the left near his lawyers, surrounded by many members of his family… around ten, including his brothers, sisters and parents who requested this morning to also become a civil party.
On the other side, seated in the 1st row and appearing free, the three police officers, their counsel and, behind, representatives of police unions.
The atmosphere is solemn, at the height of the stakes for each party, but calm reigns. After the jury was drawn, the witnesses were called, then the summary of the case, the president asked the police to speak.
An opportunity seized by the main accused, Marc-Antoine Castelain, the author of the baton blow which seriously injured Théo in the anal area. “ I intervened to free my colleague in the context of a very difficult arrest in the face of an individual who was rebelling and never deigned to stop,” maintained the 34-year-old man in a blank voice. The blow he dealt was “taught to him at school “.
According to him, he was “ regulatory and legitimate » « and I was really focused on defending my colleague » he insisted. “ Of course, the injury is distressing, serious, and I think about it every day “, continued the police officer before turning to the civil party to express his “ deep compassion “. But Théo Luhaka remained head down.
Read alsoThéo Luhaka affair: the young man presents a “permanent disability”