This Tuesday, January 9, three police officers are on trial before the Assize Court of Seine-Saint-Denis for the violent arrest of Théo Luhaka in 2017. A case with national repercussions.
Seven years later. The case has become a symbol of police violence. On February 2, 2017, at around 5 p.m., a 22-year-old young man, Théo Luhaka, was arrested by four police officers in Aulnay-sous-Bois in Seine-Saint-Denis. A muscular altercation ensues. The city’s video surveillance images show the officials carrying out the arrest, including one of them giving a violent blow with his baton inside the young man’s underwear. Seriously injured in the rectum, Théo collapsed to the ground; he now bears the scars and suffers from a lifelong disability.
This Tuesday, January 9, 2024, the trial of three peace guards implicated in the case opens before the Bobigny assizes. The main accused is on trial for “intentional violence resulting in mutilation or permanent disability in the victim”. This is Marc-Antoine C., 34 years old, suspected of being behind the telescopic baton attack. Two other police officers, Jérémie D., 42 years old and Tony H., 31 years old, are being prosecuted for “willful violence” aggravated by several circumstances. The first is accused of violently shoving Théo Luhaka by kneeing him and spraying him with gas. The second, for punching him in the abdomen. The fourth, a witness to the scene, benefited from a dismissal of the case.
Police officers still active
What happens to the police officers involved in the Théo affair? Originally, the latter were formally prohibited from exercising the activity of police officer and any profession related to security, since they were indicted on February 5, 2017. However, part of their judicial control was lifted. Accused of having struck Théo’s anus with a baton, Marc-Antoine C. has provided “administration support” at the Ministry of the Interior since 2019 according to France Info. As a reminder, Théo Luhaka’s medical examination concluded that there was a perforation of the perianal area and a tear of the sphincter over 10 centimeters. Also indicted for rape three days after the events, this characterization was ultimately not retained against Marc-Antoine C. at the end of the investigations.
For his part, Tony H. returned to the reception service of a police station in August 2017. Jérémie D. was suspended for two years before resuming his career in the South-West. In reality, and despite the case being taken up by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGNP), an administrative sanction is often taken when the criminal decision is pronounced. The perpetrator of the baton attack risks up to fifteen years in prison. The two other police officers face sentences of seven years in prison. The trial opens this Tuesday, January 9, 2024, the verdict is expected on January 19.