French policeman to face trial over protester's lost eye
The Peninsula
Paris: A French policeman must stand trial in Paris charged with destroying a protester s eye with a tear gas grenade, a judge has ruled, as riot weap...
Paris: A French policeman must stand trial in Paris charged with destroying a protester's eye with a tear gas grenade, a judge has ruled, as riot weapons stand under close scrutiny.
The case stems from the partial blinding of Manuel Coisne, who was struck in the eye by the projectile during a January 2019 "Yellow Vests" protest in Paris.
Identified only as Fabrice T., the officer faces charges of deliberate violence causing a permanent disability by a public official.
He is accused of failing to respect regulations calling for gas grenades to be launched at an angle of at least 30 degrees, rather than fired directly into crowds.
The policeman's shot "forcefully struck the left eye of Manuel Coisne... causing the irreversible loss" of the organ, the judge said in a court document dated Thursday but seen Friday by AFP.
