Four police officers suspected of violence against a disabled person in French Polynesia suspended and placed in police custody

An investigation was opened after the broadcast of a video showing officials attacking a man in a wheelchair in Papeete.

Four police officers were suspended and placed in police custody, suspected of violence against a person with a disability in Papeete, the High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia and the prosecutor announced on Saturday September 28. The scene, which took place on Friday, was filmed and broadcast on social networks.

“If the facts are proven, they must be punished severely”assured the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, on Sunday. “I will provide unfailing support for our law enforcement, but I expect the greatest exemplary behavior from them.”he added.

“The High Commissioner decided on the immediate administrative suspension of the four agents involved, pending the results of the internal investigation opened by the Territorial Directorate of the National Police.specified in a press release the High Commission, which represents France in this autonomous overseas community, whose security remains ensured by the State.

In the video filmed at night on Friday from the balcony of a building, four police officers surround a man in a wheelchair, then one of the officers lifts the chair and knocks the man to the ground. The latter manages to sit on the ground, but the same police officer hits him in the face and the man falls again. The video, lasting 49 seconds, was filmed in the Estall district of Papeete, a disadvantaged area of ​​Tahiti. At no time in these images does the disabled person show any sign of aggression. The context of the scene is not known.

“We must respect the presumption of innocence, but everyone has seen the video”underlinedhe public prosecutor in French Polynesia, Solène Belaouar, after the police were taken into custody. “I don’t know what preceded the video, but it can’t justify these actions anyway.” She opened an investigation for “intentional violence in meetings by a custodian of public authority against a vulnerable person”.