IGPN investigates arrest of secondary school student in Metz
France's national police inspectorate has been called in following a video showing a police officer touching a young girl during an arrest in Metz amid secondary school student protests.
Investigation into arrest in Metz
According to TF1 Info, the Metz public prosecutor's office referred the case to the Inspection générale de la police nationale (IGPN) on Tuesday 6 October following the release of a video showing the arrest of a young girl in the context of secondary school student mobilisation. In the footage, a plainclothes police officer appears to touch the hair and chest of the teenager, lying on the ground near him in front of a building.
Prosecutor David Touvet opened an investigation and referred the case to the IGPN with the support of the cyber-crime unit to authenticate and analyse the video. The investigation specifically concerns the circumstances of the arrest and aims to establish whether or not acts constituting sexual assault on a minor under 15 years of age took place, according to the prosecutor's office.
Ten other investigations have already been opened by the IGPN since the start of the secondary school movement, according to information from the Interior Ministry released on Monday. Since 28 September, a total of 6,059 arrests have been made, while 715 police officers and gendarmes have been injured.
Source: TF1 Info