The control during which a driver was seriously injured and a passenger killed by police fire on Saturday in Paris turned into a political dispute on Monday between Jean-Luc Mélenchon, his opponents and the police unions, one week before the first round of legislative.
The leader of the Insoumis, who is seeking the post of Prime Minister in the event of a victory for the united left, was quick to express himself after the control carried out in the 18th arrondissement of the capital.
In two tweets on Saturday and Sunday, Mr. Mélenchon denounced “a police (which) kills”, guilty of applying “the death penalty for a refusal to comply” and exercising “an unacceptable abuse of power”.
“The prefect approves? The minister congratulates? When is the shame?”
“The police, the gendarmes deserve respect. They do a courageous, difficult job and risk their lives at every moment”, answered the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, “insulting them dishonors those who want to govern. Let the investigations be done without using them as hostages of an electoral campaign”.
Marine Le Pen, for her part, denounced the words “of incredible gravity” by Mr. Mélenchon.
Alliance announced a complaint “tomorrow” (Tuesday) and the Synergie union accused the leader of the Insoumis of “tapping a little more with the caïdat”, when he “knows nothing about the case”.
As for the investigation, the custody started on Sunday in the premises of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) of the two men and the woman who allegedly fired at the vehicle was extended Monday, according to the prosecution of Paris.
These police officers are heard for “violence having caused a total interruption of work of more than 8 days with a weapon by a person holding public authority” and “violence having caused death without intention to give it by a person holding public authority “.
The police custody was decided “because of the seriousness of the consequences of the shootings carried out and in order to verify the conditions of use of their weapons by the persons concerned”, according to the prosecution.
The front passenger, born in 2001 according to a source familiar with the matter, and shot in the head, died on Sunday.
“Police custody continues to analyze all the elements and understand the sequence of these dramatic facts,” police lawyer Laurent-Franck Liénard told AFP. “For my clients, this police custody measure is particularly trying, but they accept the principle and cooperate fully with the investigations”.
The driver suspected of having refused to comply was very briefly placed in police custody on Monday for “attempted homicide on a person holding public authority”, according to the prosecution.
His police custody at the hospital was lifted shortly after it began, the 38-year-old man, seriously wounded by a bullet in the chest, not being in a state to be heard at this stage.
The facts took place late Saturday morning, when mountain bike officials wanted to check “a car with four passengers, one of whom was not wearing his seatbelt,” said a police source.
As they approached, the car fled. A little further on, as the officers tried again to control him, the driver drove off and “ran” into the officers who, according to the police, used their weapons and hit the driver and a female passenger.
The two rear passengers were not hit. One of them told RTL on Monday that the driver, without a license, had “advanced a little” and “did not stop” when a policeman ordered him to. The vehicle ended up in “a kind of traffic jam” and shots were fired. “My friend put the first and restarted after the shots,” assured this man.
A month and a half ago, a police officer was indicted for “intentional homicide”, suspected of having killed on the night of April 24 to 25 with an automatic weapon the driver and a passenger of a car who allegedly forced control over the Pont-Neuf in Paris.
06/06/2022 19:56:39 – Paris (AFP) – © 2022 AFP
