Marseille: an investigation opened for “intentional violence” after the head injury of a high school student

An investigation was opened for "intentional violence by a person holding public authority and with a weapon" after a 17-year-old teenager was injured in the head, apparently by a baton blow during a gathering on Wednesday in front of a Marseille high school, the Marseille prosecutor's office told AFP.

An investigation entrusted to the IGPN

The investigation was entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), after images were broadcast on social networks and media sites showing a police officer hitting a young man in the head with his baton. This is the first seizure by the IGPN in Marseille since the start of the high school protests.

The teenager injured during a blockage in front of the Marie Curie high school, located in a central district of Marseille, was taken to hospital, according to the firefighters. Teachers had denounced “a heavy-handed charge” by the police on the students of the establishment.

The Marseille police headquarters had clarified earlier that around a hundred people had gathered Wednesday morning in front of the establishment, blocking its access as well as the public highway. The CRS had gone there “to allow other students to enter the high school and to free the public highway”, before being the target of “mortar fire from demonstrators”, according to the prefecture, which specifies that they used tear gas after several warnings.

Five CRS injured

In addition to the affected student, five CRS were injured (4 bruises and one case of tinnitus), again according to the police headquarters. “Many students were beaten. And teachers too. Students and teachers have bruises,” a language teacher who did not wish to be identified described to AFPTV.

Questioned on site by AFPTV, Linda, 16 years old, in her final year, for her part considered that the gathering was “peaceful”. “We made a human chain. I got gassed. I've never had this in my life. That means my skin was burning, my eyes were burning. I didn't even know where I was walking. My friend blew his head off. He has stitches,” she testified.

“We were all sitting, squatting, the teachers were in the first line,” said Semiramis, 16, also in his final year. “The police arrived with their shields, they started moving forward, moving forward, moving forward. They didn’t take into account where we were and so we stepped on my teachers,” she described, explaining that the injured student had “bled a lot”.