Three police officers were given suspended prison sentences ranging from 3 to 12 months on Friday by the Seine-Saint-Denis Assize Court in the Paris region, for the violent arrest in 2017 of Théo Luhaka, now 29.
The young black man, a symbol of police violence, was seriously injured in the anus by a blow from a telescopic baton during the arrest.
After more than nine hours deliberation, policeman Marc-Antoine Castelain was found guilty of the baton charge. He received a 12-month suspended prison sentence and a 5-year ban from public life.
Victim suffers irreversible side effects
His colleagues Jérémie Dulin and Tony Hochart each received a three-month suspended prison sentence for intentional violence.
Théo Luhaka had been stopped by the three policemen on 2 February 2017 in a housing estate in Seine-Saint-Denis, the poorest department in mainland France.
City cameras showed the officers arresting the young man, who objected. During the scuffle, Mr. Castelain drove the end of his telescopic baton through the victim's underpants.
The blow ruptured his sphincter, leaving a wound ten centimetres deep. Despite two operations, Théo Luhaka has since suffered from incontinence, with irreversible after-effects, according to medical experts. He confessed at the trial to feeling "violated." His dreams of becoming a "great footballer" were shattered.
Decision of appeasement taken as a victory
The images, shared on social networks, caused a stir at the highest levels of government. Then French President François Hollande (Socialist), personally visited Luhaka during his convalescence in hospital.
The court's decision fell short of the demands of the public prosecutor, who had asked for suspended sentences ranging from three months to three years. It did not uphold the charge of "intentional violence resulting in permanent mutilation or infirmity."
In a tense atmosphere, the verdict was pronounced in a room packed with Luhaka's supporters and plainclothes police officers.
Shortly after the sentencing, Théo Luhaka gathered in a circle with his family, looking grave. When he came out, he was greeted by a round of applause.
"It's a decision of appeasement that we take as a victory," Antoine Vey, lawyer for the plaintiff, said in reaction.
'You can mutilate, kill, you'll get a reprieve'
"Activists fighting against police violence chanted, denouncing "the masquerade." They held up posters showing the faces of people who had died as a result of police action.
"The message sent to the police is 'You can mutilate, kill, you'll get a reprieve'," said Amal Bentounsi, founder of the "Urgence la police assassine" collective.
The verdict is an "immense relief," Me Thibault de Montbrial, the lawyer for police officer Marc-Antoine Castelain, commented on Friday. "For the first time in the eyes of the whole of France, it has been established, as he has been saying since day one, that he is not a criminal."
The police officer had expressed his "compassion" after causing the serious injury, but felt that it was a "legitimate blow," "taught at school."
In addition to this gesture, the peacekeepers fired tear gas, kneed and punched Théo Luhaka while he lay handcuffed on the ground.
Disproportionate force used
One of the police officers admitted to an illegitimate blow during questioning, linked, he said, to his "exasperation" at having lost "control over an interpellation."
An administrative investigation by the French National Police Inspectorate (IGPN) had concluded that "disproportionate force was used" during the stop.
"The co-author of the IGPN investigation said at the hearing: "We have to stop with the Epinal image of a gesture learned at school (...) It's not because it's a gesture acquired in training that de facto it will carry a legitimate character.
In an independent report, the Human Rights Defender denounced the "accumulation of failings" in this case, recommending an administrative "inspection" into the practices of the BST, which has been the subject of several complaints.
The three agents were transferred to their home áreas.
