An investigation into a motorcycle accident that sparked multi-night riots in French no-go areas has cast doubt on claims police purposely injured the motorcyclist.
The incident, which took place in the commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne on April 18th, saw 30-year-old Mouldi C. collide with the door of an unmarked police vehicle which left him with a serious leg injury.
Many locals blamed the police for the accident, claiming that an officer had opened the door on purpose to harm him. The claims spread on social media and led to at least four consecutive nights of rioting in Villeneuve-la-Garenne and other no-go areas in towns and cities across the country.
A preliminary investigation into the incident has cast doubts on police responsibility for the accident. Mouldi C. had not only broke confinement but had already been fined three times for violating lockdown measures and was riding his 80cc motorcycle without a helmet or headlights, Le Parisien reports.
Despite Lockdown: France Rocked by Four Straight Nights of Riots https://t.co/zPrvOmi9fQ
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Prosecutor of Nanterre Catherine Denis also added that a video of the incident showed the unmarked police car was stationary at the time of the accident and said the video corroborates the police account of the event.
“He was driving at high speed, making runs and excessively operating his engine speed,” said one of the officers who were in the unmarked car at the time of the incident.
Moudi C. admitted he did not know if the officers opened the door to harm him, saying: “I’m not saying they did it on purpose, but just when I arrived, they opened the door.”
The officer who opened the door insisted that the traffic light at the intersection where the car was parked had been red at the time, saying: “When I opened the door to dismount, the traffic light was red.”
Lawyer Thibault de Montbrial, who is representing the three officers, reacted to the initial investigation, saying: “These first elements seem to establish that the accident results only from the recklessness of the biker.”
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“According to our information, another city video shows Mouldi C. zigzagging between cars, running through traffic lights, and driving at excessive speed, in the opposite direction and standing on his motorcycle in Villeneuve-la-Garenne barely five hours before the accident,” he added.
Toxicology reports also claim that Mouldi C. had TCH in his blood, indicating marijuana use, which the 30-year-old has denied.
The case has some resemblance to that of Theo Luhaka, who claimed a police officer had purposely inserted a baton into his anus in 2017. The incident sparked mass rioting in Paris and the surrounding suburbs for several weeks.
Later evidence, such as CCTV footage, contradicted Theo’s original story and cast doubts on his claims. Several medical experts later testified that the officer involved in the incident did not “rape” the youth and claimed his actions were “not contrary to the rules of best practices”.
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 26, 2020
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