Edit of 10/21 1:45 p.m.: Addition of the arrest followed by the incarceration of the individual “freed” by his accomplices.
A scene that would not look out of place in a film by Olivier Marchal, Romain Gavras or Cédric Jimenez. This Wednesday, a video showing two police officers who arrested a man suspected of drug dealing in the Cité de la Castellane, in the northern districts of Marseille, being assaulted by individuals who managed to free their accomplice circulated on the networks.
The two agents were injured, an investigation was opened and two arrests took place, although it is not yet known whether these are linked to this attack. This Monday, we learned that the escapee had finally been arrested and then imprisoned. 20 Minutes takes stock of what we know about this affair.
What we see in the video
The video circulating offers a twelve-second sequence. It has been authenticated. It begins with a situation where we see two police officers engaged in a melee on the ground with a suspect they were trying to arrest. Two other individuals are in the immediate vicinity and do not appear to intervene.
One of them, hooded, bends down to pick up what appears to be the arrested person’s cell phone. Quickly three other people enter the video frame. One of them pushes one of the officers and another violently kicks the second officer in the head. The suspect then manages to free himself from the embrace and escapes, avoiding a brush.
What the video doesn’t show
This short video sequence does not say everything about the violence of this episode. According to a police source, in addition to the blows, the police officers also suffered from projectiles, stones and bottles.
The two police officers are members of the BST (specialized field brigades). Their intervention took place as part of their daily work of monitoring Marseille’s deal points, but without the support of the CRS, who carry out daily operations of harassment of drug trafficking networks in what is called “the shelling”. A strategy amplified over the last six months, notably with the arrival of CRS 81, and renamed “place net operations”, the first version of which took place last March at Castellane, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron and several of his ministers of the time.
How are the agents?
The video broadcast on the networks ends with a photo of one of the agents who shows a flow of blood under his left eye. Rudy Manna, national spokesperson for the Alliance Police union, tells 20 Minutes that he suffers, among other things, from a double fracture to his face.
Are these scenes common in Marseille?
“It’s not regular, but these are things that have already happened,” explains Rudy Manna. For the unionist police officer, this violent reaction to the arrest of a “simple” charcoal worker (seller whose role consists of serving customers) is one of the effects of the policy of harassment of Marseille deal points, and particularly that of the Castellane, ideally located to the west of the city along the highway, which is the subject of almost daily police operations, explained to 20 Minutes the police headquarters.
“It drives them (the traffickers) crazy,” said Rudy Manna, according to whom the police grip around this city was just beginning to loosen. “So they tried to resettle, and they got knocked down immediately. So, they reorganized themselves, particularly with deliveries, but it brings in much less,” he observes.
Where is the investigation?
An investigation into assault and battery on persons holding public authority has been opened, the Marseille prosecutor’s office said this Sunday, specifying that no arrests had taken place so far. According to a police source, two arrests took place this Sunday at La Castellane, without knowing yet whether they are linked to this case. Contacted this Monday, the public prosecutor did not respond to our requests for clarification.
“BFMTV” added this Monday that the individual “freed” by his accomplices was finally arrested a little later in the day on Wednesday. Brought to court on Friday, he was sentenced to one year in prison with a committal warrant and therefore incarcerated.
