The protests against the pension reform last week in France have an aftermath: because a demonstrator allegedly lost a testicle to a police officer’s baton, the Paris public prosecutor’s office intervened.
A spokesman said on Monday that she was launching an investigation into serious intentional violence by an official. The investigations are conducted by the supervisory authority of the police. The case had made waves in France.
According to video recordings by the television station BFMTV, the demonstrator was lying on the ground when the police officer hit him between the legs with a club. The 26-year-old then had to have a testicle removed, as several media reported unanimously. His lawyer spoke of a “sadistic blow”.
Government spokesman Olivier Véran said on Sunday that he had a lot of empathy for the victim and that one had to understand the conditions under which the operation was carried out.
On Thursday, more than 1.1 million people demonstrated against the French government’s pension plans. Because the current pension system will not be financed in the long term due to the aging population, the French government wants to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
Since the firecracker riots sparked the dispute over youth violence and migration, one person has been under particular observation: Martin Hikel, the mayor of the disreputable Neukölln. FOCUS accompanied the young local politician for a day.
The Greens get more and more in need of explanation. The reasons: the climate protests in Lützerath and the new RWE deal. On Wednesday evening, the new Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) first ordered an examination of the stocks of Leopard tanks for a possible delivery to Ukraine on Friday. A report now reveals that his predecessor Christine Lambrecht is said to have banned this within the ministry shortly before.
