A 22-year-old man at the centre of a political row over police violence in France has given a video interview making clear the scale of his injuries after a part of his skull was removed during a first round of surgery.
Hedi, an assistant restaurant manager in Marseille, said he was hit in the head by a blast ball fired by police in the early hours of 2 July and then held down and beaten by four to five officers.
The incident happened as France faced several nights of unrest after the killing of Nahel, a 17-year-old boy of Algerian background who was shot by police during a traffic stop in Nanterre outside Paris on 27 June.
Four police officers were charged last week over violence against Hedi and were ordered to be suspended. One of the officers was remanded in custody before trial.
The national police chief, Frédéric Veaux, this week sparked fury among magistrates, lawyers, rights groups and politicians on the left by saying in an interview with the Le Parisien: “In general, I believe that ahead of a possible trial a police officer should not be in prison, even if he may have committed serious faults or errors in the course of his work.”
Hundreds of police officers have gone on sick leave in protest over the officer’s detention. The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, was due to meet police unions on Thursday.
In a video interview for Konbini, Hedi, who sustained serious head trauma, a broken jaw and damaged sight in his left eye, said his injuries were hard to bear and he could not look in the mirror at his disfigured head.
Hedi, 22 ans, a été touché par un tir de LBD, roué de coups et laissé pour mort par la BAC de Marseille. Une partie de son crâne a dû être retiré pour le sauver. Il témoigne et raconte comment il envisage l’avenir. pic.twitter.com/PGsLcqjrGu
— Konbini news (@konbininews) July 26, 2023
He said he had not taken part in any unrest, and he and a friend had been in Marseille city centre when they saw a police unit at the corner of a street. “We said ‘good evening’. We saw they didn’t want to talk to us. Then it started,” he said. “As I turned around, I received an impact to the head. At the start I didn’t know what it was, I fell to the ground. When I wanted to get up, they caught me and dragged me into a dark corner, then they started to hit me.”
He said one officer held him down and others beat him with fists and batons. He said he was left on the ground bleeding. He managed to move towards a local shop, vomiting and soiling himself and unable to feel his skull. Shop workers drove him to hospital where he fell into a coma.
During emergency surgery, doctors had to remove part of his skull. After several weeks in hospital, he has not yet regained sight in his left eye and faces further operations to come. He said he had to wear a helmet to protect his head and often had to lie in the dark with no sound or light due to constant migraines.
He said he had told police he was unarmed and had his identity papers on him and that they could search him to check.
Asked why the incident happened, he said: “I can’t explain it.”
Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary group of the left’s La France Insoumise party, said Hedi’s account was unbearable. She tweeted: “I’m ashamed for my country.”
In a statement this week after the police chief’s comments, Marseille’s top judge, Olivier Leurent, urged “restraint so that the judiciary can pursue the investigation … free from pressure and in complete impartiality”.
