The Marseille police officer who fired a defense bullet launcher (LBD) who allegedly seriously injured Hedi R., 22, on the sidelines of the riots in Marseille in early July, was released on Friday 1er September, after forty days in pre-trial detention, learned Agence France-Presse (AFP) from Pierre Gend, his lawyer. Now under judicial supervision, he is prohibited from exercising “the profession of police officer”communicated the prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille, Dominique Laurens.
The policeman “explained the circumstances of this LBD shot, demonstrating that he had used it on the young Hedi, while the latter was launching a projectile likely to threaten the integrity of his colleagues “said Mr. Gend, repeating the explanations given by his client, Christophe, before the investigating chamber of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal in early August. “Christophe felt he had done his duty in the exercise of his functions, in a context of urban violence”he continued.
The remand in custody of this policeman from the Marseille anti-crime brigade (BAC) had angered many of his colleagues in France. This decision was considered “incomprehensible and very unfair” by the police union Alliance and, in protest, thousands of police officers had filed for sick leave.
Hedi R.’s state of health is deteriorating, according to his lawyer
“Given the extreme pressure in this case, this release does not surprise me”reacted Jacques-Antoine Preziosi, the lawyer for Hedi R., part of whose skull had to be amputated by surgeons after his hospitalization following the shooting of LBD then his alleged beating by other police officers : “Hedi is devastated. He is also in the hospital to undergo examinations because his state of health is deteriorating. »
“We will now witness a flood of lies between the shooter and the hitters who will say that Hedi was threatening and that they were in self-defense. But the videos say otherwise.insisted Mr. Preziosi.
In this Hedi case, four Marseille BAC police officers have been indictedfor aggravated intentional violence committed in a meeting, with the use or threat of a weapon and by a person holding public authority in the exercise of their functions.
In total, four cases of alleged police violence have led to the opening of investigations in Marseille, one of which led to the indictment of three RAID police officers in the aftermath of the death of Mohamed Bendriss, 27probably hit by an LBD shot, the same night of 1er on July 2, when Hedi R. was seriously injured.
The World with AFP