Mobilization at the Paul-Eluard high school in Saint-Denis: the Bobigny public prosecutor's office opens an investigation into violence against police officers

The Bobigny public prosecutor's office opened an investigation into "violence against persons holding public authority" the day after a tense day of mobilization in front of the Paul-Eluard high school in Saint-Denis, the prosecutor announced to AFP on Friday. During a gathering on Thursday, where hundreds of students and educational staff were mobilized, “police officers from the Saint-Denis police station were subject to outrage and violence in front of the Paul-Eluard high school in Saint-Denis as part of a blockade of the establishment,” indicated Alexandre de Bosschère.

That day, “three suspects” were arrested while a fourth “fled inside the establishment,” he added. Police officers then entered the high school with the authorization of the head of the establishment and their hierarchy, continues the prosecution, in order to “arrest” this fourth individual, a minor, in “an administrative office”.

“On leaving the office, the police officers were attacked and jostled by around fifty teachers and staff who prevented them from leaving the school with the arrested minor,” he further detailed. According to the prosecution, the police finally decided to release the high school student, who “will be heard very soon”, in order to “be able to go out safely.”

“The police denounce the commission of violence against them on the part of the teachers present and have filed a complaint. They will soon be examined by a doctor,” also reported the Bobigny prosecutor. The staff of this establishment, one of the most publicized since the start of the high school movement in mid-September, for their part announced the holding of a press briefing in front of Paul-Eluard on Friday afternoon.

They intend to denounce the “extremely violent police repression” against their students and demand the “immediate departure” of the principal, whom they accuse in particular of having allowed the police to enter the establishment with a view to arresting a high school student. “Prevented by teachers, the police officers withdrew in order to restore calm,” explained the police headquarters.