Commissioner Rabah Souchi, who ordered the charge against a banned “yellow vest” demonstration in 2019 in Nice, must answer for the injuries inflicted that day on a septuagenarian Attac activist, Geneviève Legay. The hearing scheduled for this week is postponed.
The affair, which had caused a stir due to contradictory statements from the authorities, was transferred to Lyon. The hearing was scheduled for this Friday, October 13.
It will finally take place at the beginning of next year. At France 3 Côte d’Azur, Geneviève Legay confirmed the postponement to January 11, 2024 at the request of the president, confirming information from BFM Nice.
This is not a referral requested by either party. This postponement is linked to a bereavement in the president’s family.
Commissioner Rabah Souchi, who ordered the charge against a banned “yellow vest” demonstration in 2019 in Nice, must answer for the injuries inflicted that day on the septuagenarian activist. At 54, he is being prosecuted for “complicity in violence by a person holding public authority.”
The Attac activist had suffered several broken ribs and skull fractures while being thrown to the ground during a police charge ordered to disperse a banned demonstration “yellow vests”.
Divisional Commissioner Rabah Souchi was responsible for law enforcement operations that day. In its investigation report, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) had deemed the police burden disproportionate due to “inappropriate” orders.
Commissioner Souchi was indicted last November as part of an unusual investigation in Lyon, after a lively controversy surrounding the affair fueled by the contradictory views of the authorities.
The Nice public prosecutor at the material time had first denied any physical contact between the victim and the police, comments repeated by President Emmanuel Macron.
After the exploitation of video surveillance images, the magistrate recognized that Geneviève Legay had been pushed by a police officer.