At the criminal court of Paris,
The facts, well the facts, nothing but the facts. After a first day of hearing devoted to the analysis of the personality investigations of the police officers accused of having beaten Michel Zecler in November 2020, during which it emerged that none of the three accused had ever slipped up in the exercise of their duties nor presented weak signals capable of explaining such an outburst of violence, the debates got to the heart of the matter.
Because if the police officers, who took turns at the bar the day before, had given a good general impression, we will have to understand how, at the end of a simple routine check for not wearing a mask during a period of restrictions linked to Covid-19, sworn law enforcement officers were able to deliver “around thirty kicks, punches, batons and even a headbutt”, in the words of the IGPN investigator in charge of the case.
Throughout the morning, Tuesday, the president and her assessors wanted to know if Michel Zecler could, in one way or another, have behaved likely to justify an arrest while he was heading towards his recording studio. Cited by the three agents to justify their intervention, could the “odor of cannabis” that they smelled emanating from his bag “constitute an act likely to be flagrante delicto?” », asks the general advocate. “It’s a little light,” replied the IGPN investigator.
“Michel Zecler did not strike any blows”
Nothing authorized the police to enter his studio, even though they thought it was a building lobby, also a private place according to the law. Unless they were pushed inside by Michel Zecler, which does not seem to be the case according to the inspector in charge of the investigation, or they showed rebellion, which implies a real reaction and not passive resistance, as the general advocate also recalled. “I have doubts about the fact that Mr. Zecler dragged Aurélien L. into the airlock. » As for the dozens of blows dealt to the producer, the investigator affirms that after viewing the images, “Michel Zecler did not strike any blows”, unlike the police officers “who struck many”.
This will be confirmed by the broadcast of video surveillance tapes at the beginning of the afternoon, which clearly show that the story given by one of the police officers in his report was false in every way. The images undeniably show that Michel Zecler did not drag the police into his studio, but that Aurélien L., in civilian clothes and visibly without a police armband, contrary to what he will say in the PV, clings to him to try to extract him from the premises.
His colleague Philippe T. then joined him, quickly followed by Pierre P., and the blows began to rain, causing emotion in the courtroom and in the adjoining press room. “At no time do we see Michel Zecler trying to grab the weapon of one of the police officers”, contrary to their assertions, confirms the IGPN investigator. What we see, however, is a veritable deluge of blows of incredible violence falling on the victim's face.
Video surveillance and police lies
Philippe T., described the day before by a colleague as someone “never aggressive, always restrained”, delivered violent punches to the face. Pierre P. headbutts him and hits him with a baton, before Aurélien L. takes over and adds two huge blows to the skull with a telescopic baton. According to the former IGPN major responsible for analyzing the videos, “the only professional gestures” perceptible in the image are “possibly the kicks at the beginning, everything else, these are not gestures that we learn in the police”.
And that's how, in the space of five minutes, the lies of the police in the PV collapsed by themselves. Images that are sufficiently telling to understand that the three accused did in fact try to pass the victim off as an aggressor and which push us to question the six years of proceedings necessary before this trial can take place.
The video then shows how the young people present in the studio located in the basement, whom Michel Zecler tried to call for help – we can clearly hear him say “Help, help!” Ouch! » in the recording of Philippe T.'s communications – ended up opening the door that the latter was trying to keep closed, before pushing the attackers out and closing it behind them. According to the accused, the young people shouted “We are going to kill you all”, which caused them to panic and increase the number of blows given to Michel Zecler. Questioned by the president, the investigator dismantles this theory: “Almost all the blows were carried out before the young people arrived. »
“They called me a dirty nigger”
The day, already emotionally charged by the multiple viewings of the videos, took a further step forward when, at around 4:30 p.m., Michel Zecler took the stand, in his elegant gray suit, rugby player build and confident voice, less than two meters from his attackers sitting on the bench.
“It’s not easy to watch these videos again. Because I experienced what you saw. Since I met these people, they took away a lot of things from me, they destroyed a lot of things, it seemed important to me to tell you that. Even today I dream of these gentlemen, I see them hitting me. At several points I thought I was going to die. Even today, I ask myself: why? »
Throughout his hearing, Michel Zecler wanted to respond to “all the lies” he heard from the three accused. Starting with this smell of narcotics, the common thread on the defense side as to the reason for such an arrest. “If videos had microphones or olfactory sensors, there are lots of things that would not be discussed here today. I can assure you that no smell of cannabis emanated from me or my studio. I haven't smoked for years. I don't even know how long I had this in my bag. »
As for the racist insults, even if these were not considered as aggravating circumstances by the prosecution, due to lack of sufficient material evidence, the victim does not care. “I know what I heard, Madam Judge,” he said. They called me a "dirty nigger", they said they were going to kill me. When I hear them say that they were afraid... They weren't afraid, I don't want to let them say that. I felt ease. They came back, they lynched me. It was me who tried to calm them down, to speak gently, telling them that maybe they were wrong, maybe they were looking for another big black guy. » If he admits a “disappointment”, that of not seeing his attackers condemned for racism, deep down, Michel Zecler has a deep conviction: “If I had been white, things would not have happened like this. »
