Two police officers were sentenced, Wednesday, May 6, in immediate appearance, by the Marseille criminal court to four years and 18 months in prison for the illegal arrest of a young Afghan refugee, then abandoned in a vacant lot where he claims to have been hit. They were imprisoned after the conviction for kidnapping and forcible confinement, forgery and willful violence.
The third member of this CRS motorway crew, a young woman, security assistant, was given a suspended prison sentence.
“The court is perfectly assured of the loyalty, competence, dedication of the police, we trust it (…) but the downside is that it cannot be subject to derogations and infringement commissions “, declared the president Céline Ballérini.
CCTV cameras filmed the muscular arrest of Jamshed, a 27-year-old Afghan man with a residence permit, on April 12 in the Old Port of Marseille. The police, who were involved in the containment check, suspected him of spitting on two passers-by who allegedly refused him a cigarette. He was thrown against the police vehicle after an arm wrench, and then placed inside.
Grievous blows, a false written report
According to the security assistant who carried out the handcuffing, the skipper, Brigadier Michel Provenzano, 46, “Got mad from there”. Officials speak of fingers of honor and invective. “The first big mistake was that we should have dropped it and let it go again but we decided that it shouldn’t stay there”, recognized the driver, Mathieu Coelho.
Before the criminal court where they appeared after their custody in the premises of the General Inspectorate of the National Police, the police acknowledged the facts, stressing that because of the health crisis, they would have “Makes you laugh” if they had transported the young man to a criminal investigation officer for contempt.
“I farted a cable, we made a huge dumpling, recognized Michel Provenzano. We had this guy on our arms, we didn’t know what to do with it. “ The young man was then transported to an isolated site in Châteauneuf-les-Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône), around thirty kilometers from Marseille.
On site, Michel Provenzano places his sunglasses and his service weapon in the storage compartment “Not to do bullshit”, he told the court. Behind a hillock, the young Afghan would then have received “A punch or a slap”, according to the security assistant, but the violence is disputed by her two colleagues.
Once Jamshed abandoned, Michel Provenzano will let go: “It feels good, it relieves”, still according to the security assistant. The two men then decide to write a false report indicating that they left the young refugee at the police station.
“33 minutes of madness”
The sentence of four years in prison, against Mr. Provenzano, is higher than the three years required by the prosecutor Virginie Tavanti according to which these police officers “Weren’t worthy of their uniform”. The 18-month prison sentence imposed on his colleague Mathieu Coelho is in line with the requisitions. The three police officers apologized to the victim at the hearing.
Me Nicolas Berthier, defender of Michel Provenzano, had mentioned a “Quasi-professional suicide”, calling on the court to “Do not reduce this policeman to 33 minutes of madness, out of frame, after twenty years spent in the CRS without any incident”.
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Hi, I was teard down out of my car on Nov; 22nd, early in the morning, with no reaon. because I’m aged (70) Intold them I’ll follow, but slowly. Had sometimes 3 officers on my neck and shoulders, even when I’d say it hurts to much getting handcuffs on because arthritis. reason was a ‘lady’ did call them and said i had a knife in my hand. another lady, who lives in that house where i’d park my car, and i ask for the way to the german Ambassy ,who could witness that i had NO knife in my hand, i had no chance to find, again. the Police, even when i asked them that my car was well parked, said it is perfect there. but when i came out it was on the other side of Marseille. think they try avoyd that i have a witness. in jail (it just takes 20 min, then you’re out) the blackmailed me sign a protocolle, even when i had no glasses, and could’nt read it. i had no right for an exemplair, neither. if you refuse something you can stay another 3 days in! s far as i know i can have a knife (i eat in my car or do a Pic Nic) IN my car, i swore I never went OUT with it, but they turned everything against me. me, as a german, i’m happy that Gestapo Methodes like that are past now, but after this first contact in my life with Police Forces I’m not quite sure. now i’m searching for a Lawyer, because i don’t want to be innocent in the records. if somebody could help please get in touch!