A 26-year-old man says he was filming pension reform protests in Paris last week when a police officer struck him in the groin with such force that he had to have one of his testicles amputated.
The man, identified in French media reports as Ivan S, has filed a complaint against the Parisian police over the alleged use of excessive force.
France’s Liberation newspaper identified the man as a 26-year-old engineer “in a large French company” who was at the protest against the government’s pension reforms last week.
About one million people took part in demonstrations across France and at least 80,000 took part in the biggest rally in Paris. They were demonstrating against Emmanuel Macron’s plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
“In the family, there is a strong union tradition, more on the public service side. I have already demonstrated several times, including with my 60-year-old aunts,” he said.
The man was quoted by a French newspaper as saying that he was forced to file a complaint “so that it stops; because I am not the first person to suffer violence from police officers”.
He said he was knocked down to the ground by police while filming the protests. As soon as he fell to the ground, another police officer allegedly charged at him and hit his groin with a baton.
A video of the incident that was captured by other protesters was broadcast on TV channels and shared widely on social media. It has fueled outrage against a police force that had already been accused of using excessive force.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez ordered an inquiry into the incident.
The French engineer’s lawyer Lucie Simon said she was filing a complaint on behalf of her client for “voluntary violence that led to mutilation by a person vested with public authority”.
“It was such a strong blow that he had to have a testicle amputated. This is not a case of self-defence or necessity. The proof is in the images we have and the fact that he was then not arrested.”
French government spokesperson Olivier Veran said in an interview with BFM TV that he was neither part of the police nor judicial establishments, but “my thoughts are obviously with this person”.
Overhauling the pension system is a central pillar of Mr Macron’s reformist agenda when he entered the Elysee Palace in 2017. But he shelved his first attempt to do so in 2020 as the government battled to contain the Covid outbreak.
The long delayed and controversial overhaul pushes the retirement age to 64.
“I’m well aware that changing our pension system raises questions and fears among the French,” prime minister Elisabeth Borne said earlier this month, adding that the government would work on convincing the French that the reform was necessary.
“We offer today a project to balance our pension system, a project that is fair,” she said.
Angry workers across France took to the streets last week to protest, halted high-speed trains and disrupted electricity supplies.
