They have until mid-June to receive complaints from Liverpool football club supporters: three French police officers arrived in England on Sunday June 5, after the incidents in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, the May 28 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The stated objective of the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, is to allow them to “file a complaint in their own country”.
Thousands of reports have already been collected by the Liverpool club on its testimonial collection platform specially set up for the occasion. But the system put in place by France seems unsuitable, both in terms of the quality of the form and the lack of communication about the procedure to get closer to French police officers.
The form proposed by the French Ministry of the Interior is seven pages long and is written in English. It is mainly composed of multiple-choice questions. If the layout suggests that it was typed on a typewriter, it is mainly the questions that are the problem. Indeed, they do not necessarily stick with what some of the supporters have experienced.
For example, when asked where the events took place, supporters can tick “museum”, “airport”, “department stores” but not “stadium”. The box simply does not exist. Similarly, choices are limited as to the nature of the offense suffered. Thus, the form mentions “racketeering”, “fraud” or “theft with a weapon” but there is never any mention of physical aggression, as told by many English people present that evening, on the part of thugs or police.
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If they do not fit into the boxes, the English can tick the “other” proposal and describe what they have suffered on a blank page. The form is then to be sent by post to the prosecutor of Bobigny, competent on this file since the Stade de France is located in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Besides the quality of the form, the communication is also non-existent. The main people concerned are therefore not necessarily aware of this system, which has not been accompanied by any communication and is only accessible on the site of the French Embassy. Even the local political authorities – municipal council, town hall, deputy – were not informed of the procedure to follow.
The presence of the three police officers who arrived on the scene on Sunday is also a mystery. Indeed, no one knows where they are precisely in the city. Under these conditions, it is therefore difficult for them to ask them for help in filling out the certificate. Liverpool fans who were at the Stade de France also said they no longer want to meet French police.