French Police Officer Disciplined After Exposing Racism in Paris Courthouse Cells

In the warning note, he is accused of having "failed in the duty of obedience by failing to comply with an order," especially "by refraining from immediately complying with the instructions of his superiors" who had asked him for a report on his revelations. He is also accused of not having mentioned the names of the people "who had reported the objectionable behaviors" to him, in his report.

Racist or homophobic insults such as "shut your mouth, dirty Arab," "nigger," "dirty race," "if I was left to do it, I would set fire to all these sausages," humiliations, deprivation of food or water, refusal of medical care, and acts that "can almost be described as torture" are among the evidence of the existence of a large system of mistreatment in the cells of the Paris courthouse, "the largest courthouse in Europe where nearly 9,000 people gather every day," revealed Amar Benmohamed on the news site StreetPress, noting an increase in incidents with detainees. Thus, "If I speak today, it is because I have done everything [within the police] to resolve this matter and it has failed," he says.

However, Amar Benmohamed denied the facts that his superiors are accusing him of, specifying that he had written the report on the same day that they had asked him for it, after having discussed it orally with them. "Those who reveal racism are being sanctioned. We will file an appeal against this warning with the administrative court," said Arié Alimi, the police officer’s lawyer, denouncing "a desire to prevent the fight against racism in the police."