French Police Officer Faces Jail Time for Racist Slur During Rescue Operation

"A nigger like that doesn’t know how to swim," the police officer had said to the Maghrebi man. These racist remarks were heard in a video recorded by a resident at the time of the events, and broadcast by the journalist Taha Bouhafs on social networks. The term "nigger" has a particular connotation even sixty years later. When we rescue someone, these words retain all their meaning," stressed Loïc Pageot, the Bobigny prosecutor, recalling that "a police officer has a duty of exemplarity".

To read: Hate Crimes in France: Over 11,000 Racist and Religious Offenses Reported in 2020

The victim, of Egyptian origin, suspected of theft of equipment on a construction site, had thrown himself into the Seine in an attempt to escape his arrest on April 26, 2020. At the bar last Thursday, Samir Elgendy, assisted by an interpreter, explained that he had come "alone out of the water" and that once on the bank, the agents "all hit him", before putting him in the van where they continued to hit him "throughout the journey to the police station". The 29-year-old man claims to have been "afraid" to file a complaint, as he was in an irregular situation.

"I needed to decompress and make the gallery laugh. It was a bad joke," defended the 26-year-old police officer who used the term "nigger". "I regret this joke," continued the agent for whom "nigger" at the time of the facts "was not an insult but a familiar word like "rebeu"". His colleagues also acknowledged the racist remarks made towards the Maghrebi, referring to "a joke", "a moment of humor". "You are civil servants of police above all!" retorted the prosecutor.

To read: article 82260

The victim’s lawyer, Me Arié Alimi, asked the judge to "sanction this racist speech in a country where racist speech is being liberated". He was supported by four anti-racist associations (Licra, MRAP, LDH, SOS Racisme) who joined the case as civil parties. The defense lawyers, for their part, pleaded for the outright acquittal of the defendants, denouncing a "political recovery" of the case aimed at "spitting on the police institution". After fifteen hours of hearing, the judge adjourned the case to January 6, 2022.

In the context of this case, two police officers were sanctioned in October by the disciplinary council of the Prefecture of Police with three days of exclusion. The Director General of the National Police, Frédéric Veaux, toughened the sanction by going to five days of exclusion.