French cop charged with raping suspect using his baton while pinning 22-year-old to the floor
The 22-year-old youth worker suffered severe anal injuries which required surgery
A FRENCH police officer has been charged with the assault of a youth worker who was severely injured after allegedly being raped with a baton.
The 22-year-old youth worker suffered severe anal injuries which required surgery.
He also suffered injuries to the head and face which left him unable to work for two months.
Shocking footage of his arrest appeared to show the man limping after an officer allegedly sexually assaulted him with a baton during an identity check in a multi-ethnic housing estate in Aulnay-sous-Bois, north of Paris.
Three other officers were also charged with assault.
The four officers have been suspended from the force over the incident which happened last week.
The alleged assault led to new accusations of police brutality and sparked minor clashes and arson attacks on the housing estate over the weekend.
At least five people have been arrested, police sources said.
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Hundreds of people marched in Aulnay-sous-Bois to demand justice for the alleged victim, described by family and friends as a youth worker who came from a respected family in the area.
"He was there at the wrong time and came across some crooks," a family member of the alleged victim told local television.
Another family member called for calm as supporters gathered outside the victim's home holding banners asking for justice.
The local prosecutor's office said police had stopped a group of around a dozen people "after hearing calls characteristic of lookouts at drug dealing sites".
During the operation they "attempted to arrest a 22-year-old man".
When he resisted, they used tear gas, and "one of them used an expandable baton".
The Socialist politician in charge of the Seine-Saint-Denis region where Aulnay-sous-Bois is located, Stephane Troussel, said the incident raised "numerous questions".
"Although thousands of police are doing their work properly, too many arrests end in nightmares for some young people.
"The image of the Republic is being tarnished. We have to urgently find a solution," he said in a statement.
The latest incident comes in the middle of the French presidential election campaign.
It follows the death of a man in police custody in another Parisian suburb which led to violent protests last year.
The death of Adama Tra, 24, in July, led to nights of violence in Beaumont-sur-Oise against the police, with cars set alight.
A group calling itself Black Lives Matter France, an offshoot of the movement against police brutality in the US seized on the case and helped organise protests afterwards.
French police say they are frequently targeted by criminals in rough areas around Paris and other cities as they play a game of cat-and-mouse with gangs and drug dealers.
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