PARIS, Nov 9 — Three French policemen are to go on trial today over the beating of a black music producer they say was not wearing a face mask during the Covid pandemic, in a rare police brutality case to go to court.
The assault on Michel Zecler, now 47, triggered renewed outrage in France over police violence, which victims and researchers say is systemic but authorities and law enforcement unions claim is limited to isolated cases.
“I expect this trial to hold the police officers accountable,” he told AFP in a recent interview.
Campaigners and rights groups saw the case as further evidence of what they see as the French police’s systemic racism, in a country where they say ethnic minorities receive far harsher treatment than white people.
