The new medical expertise in the case of the death of Cédric Chouviat “is important because it confirms what we thought from the beginning with the autopsy”, reacted on franceinfo Monday, January 24 master Arié Alimi, lawyer for the family of the victim, after the publication of the results of this expertise, which franceinfo was able to consult. This 42-year-old scooter delivery man died during his arrest by police in Paris on January 3, 2020. According to master Alimi, “it confirms that the strangulation keys and the belly tackle are the exclusive causes of the death of Cédric Chouviat, which means that it is indeed the action of the police that killed him. This is particularly important in the course of this training.”
According to the conclusions of the five experts commissioned by the investigating judge, the cause of death is a “simultaneous association of several factors” stemming from gestures of interpellation having “resulted in a very rapid deprivation of oxygen to the brain”. This new expertise specifies that there has been “a mechanical crushing of the trachea from front to back, when Mr. Chouviat is on his stomach, by a forearm placed under his chin”.
There is also, according to the report, “the action of the chinstrap of the helmet [de Cédric Chouviat] which, after tensioning by someone trying to turn their head to the side by pushing on the helmet, could be the cause of the fractures” observed in this area. Experts also mention “the reduction in the functional respiratory capacity of Cédric Chouviat who finds himself lying down, his stomach crushed at the level of the back. This is equivalent to a combined crushing of the thorax and the abdomen causing the abdominal viscera to rise”.
Relatives “were terrified of reading this report even though they saw the video. The reading was arid”, explained Arie Alimi. “He was not given any chance of surviving because it’s going very fast. This choke key, this belly tackle simply suffocated him. Yet, we see it on the videos, he tells the police that he is suffocating and, despite this, the gestures continue and finish off Cédric Chouviat”, he continued. After the conclusions of this new expertise, “we are waiting for the investigation to continue. Cédric’s family is hopeful that it will end up in criminal court, said Arie Alilmi. Cédric Chouviat’s family is waiting for the truth”.
For master Arie Alimi, “we can also say from reading this report that it could have happened to any father, to anyone”, because “everyone can run the risk of being confronted with the action of these police officers if we do not intervene in the gestures that are authorized within the framework of the action of the national police or the gendarmerie during a simple control”. It is therefore necessary “to preserve the population from these deadly acts”.