Paris | French justice on Tuesday ordered the release of the two police officers detained since November 30 for having beaten up in Paris Michel Zecler, a black music producer.
The affair shook the country, French President Emmanuel Macron saying himself “shocked” by an “unacceptable aggression” and “(CCTV) images that make us ashamed”, against a backdrop of recurring debate on racism and police violence.
The two police officers will be subject to judicial control which provides for a ban on entering into contact with the victim and the other indicted, holding a weapon and exercising the profession of police officer, said a judicial source.
They are also prohibited from appearing in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, where the producer’s music studio is located, and will have to pay a deposit of 5,000 euros.
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At the end of their questioning at the Paris court on Friday and Monday, the two police officers filed a request for release with the investigating judges, who granted them.
The prosecution did not oppose their request subject to placement under strict judicial control, said the judicial source.
Contacted by AFP, the lawyers for the two police officers did not respond in the early evening.
On November 21, at the end of the day, Michel Zecler was beaten up by police officers in the entrance of his music studio, then in the street. The facts were revealed by CCTV footage released by the online media Loopsider, which contradicted the initial report of the arrest drafted by the police.
In this case, four police officers were indicted on November 30: three of them, suspected of having beaten Mr. Zecler, were for “willful violence by a person in public authority (PDAP ) ”, With several aggravating circumstances including that of racism, and for“ forgery in public writing ”by PDAP, a crime punishable by the Assize Court.
Among them, a 31-year-old brigadier and a 23-year-old peacekeeper had been remanded in custody, a “rare” decision for police officers, according to several sources.
A fourth policeman, suspected of having thrown a tear gas canister in the music studio, was indicted mainly for “willful violence by a person holding public authority” and placed under judicial supervision.