Three French Officers Face Up to 15 Years Over Beating of Black Producer

Three French police officers go on trial Monday over the beating of Michel Zecler, a black music producer, who they say was not wearing a face mask during the Covid pandemic. The Guardian reported that the case is a rare instance of alleged police brutality reaching a courtroom in France, where most such complaints are handled internally.

Zecler, now 47, told Agence France-Presse he expects the trial to hold the officers accountable. The attack, captured on security cameras, set off public anger in France over police violence, which victims and researchers describe as systemic and which authorities and police unions say is limited to isolated cases.

The key numbers in the Zecler case

• About 30: the number of punches and truncheon blows Zecler took to the face and body, according to the investigation, as reported by the Guardian.
• Five minutes: the period over which the assault took place, according to the same investigation.
• 45 days: how long Zecler was unable to work, according to the medical report. It recorded craniofacial trauma, wounds to the lip and scalp, and a complete rupture of his biceps tendon.
• Up to 15 years: the maximum jail term the officers face if convicted of intentional violence committed in a group and of forgery.
• Four times: how much more likely young men seen as Arab, black or from north Africa are to be stopped by police than the rest of the population, according to a report last year by France's rights ombudswoman.
• 12 times: how much more likely those same young men are to face harsher measures, including being frisked during checks, according to the same report, which was based on a survey of more than 5,000 people.

What happened on Nov. 21, 2020

Police stopped Zecler outside his Paris studio on Nov. 21, 2020. They accused him of not wearing the mandatory mask and said they suspected him of cannabis use. The officers pushed him into the entrance of his office and beat him, and the studio's cameras recorded it.

The defendants are Aurelien B, now 29, Pierre P, 37, and Philippe T. The forgery charge relates to their official arrest report, which claimed Zecler had hit them and tried to grab a truncheon. The Guardian reported that camera footage, released several days later by the French media website Loopsider, refuted that account. The officers' lawyers declined to comment before the trial.

Zecler has said he still has nightmares and has a titanium anchor in his left arm after the tendon injury. He said that without the cameras, the officers' reports would have been enough to send him to prison.

The dispute over racist abuse

Zecler says the officers used a racist slur against him and that he will say so at the hearing. France's human rights ombudswoman has said four witnesses reported racist insults during the assault. The officers deny this, and the alleged racism is not part of the indictment, according to the Guardian. Campaigners and rights groups have called the case further evidence of what they describe as systemic racism in French policing.

Why it matters beyond one courtroom

For people in France, the trial is a test of how often officers are held to account in court. Guilty verdicts in police brutality cases are rare, the Guardian reported. In 2024, a judge gave suspended jail sentences to three officers who caused irreversible rectal injuries to a black man, Théo Luhaka, during a stop-and-search in 2017.

The ombudswoman's figures on stops and frisks point to the daily experience of many residents, particularly young men seen as Arab, black or from north Africa. The video evidence in this case also echoes another one. A French officer is to be tried over the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk outside Paris in June 2023, where footage also contradicted the police account and sparked nationwide protests.

The trial begins Monday. The officers' lawyers have not commented publicly, and the court's verdict date has not been disclosed.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian