Alleged Police Brutality in Paris: Man Claims Rape During Custody, Sparking Investigation

In early April, Tommi, 23, was arrested by two police officers from the 19th arrondissement of Paris for refusing to comply, theft and receiving stolen goods. After suffering violence and mistreatment during his arrest, he was, he says, a victim of rape at the police station by the two agents, he confided to StreetPress and Le Média.

Tommi recounts that on April 5, he fled to avoid a police check because he was driving a stolen rental vehicle. But he was caught 400 meters later by the police who even damaged his vehicle. While waiting to be transferred to the police station, he was the victim of racist remarks by one of the police officers. "I’m going to fuck your mother, you dirty Arab," he repeatedly told him. "You’re going to die today," added another who did not hesitate to punch him in the stomach.

Transferred to the police station, he was searched naked by the two agents who beat him until he lost his breath after he refused to lower his underwear. "I started having an asthma attack. At that moment, the second policeman, the one who punches me, penetrated his finger into my rectum," he recalls. After struggling, he finally put his underwear back on, then was handcuffed before being taken by the firefighters to the hospital. A doctor examined him, examined the injuries on his body, but requested a requisition before proving the rape.

Before the judicial police officer, Tommi insisted on undergoing examinations. He will be examined on April 7 by a doctor at the UMJ of the Hôtel-Dieu who, in addition to the bruises on his body, also noticed an anal lesion, thus confirming Tommi’s statements. "DNA samples were taken and made available to the authorities in charge of the case," the doctor said in his medical report.

Through his lawyer Cynthia Vazquez, he filed a complaint on Wednesday, April 28, against X, with the prosecutor of the Paris judicial court for "intentional violence and rape by persons holding public authority" and "violation of privacy". "An investigation is ongoing, the IGPN having been seized in a judicial and administrative capacity," the Paris police headquarters said, adding that the two police officers had also "filed a complaint for insult and rebellion against the defendant." Tommi hopes at least that "these two police officers will be suspended".

A survey published in November by StreetPress already reported cases of violence against detainees at the police station in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. The victims denounced acts of "torture" and inhuman and degrading treatment there. Journalist Valentin Gendrot also revealed in his book titled "Flic" several cases of police violence.