The Paris prosecutor's office is calling for three police officers accused of causing the death of delivery driver Cédric Chouviat in 2020 to be tried for involuntary manslaughter.
Chouviat, 42, died during a police arrest in January 2020, repeatedly saying: “I’m suffocating”.
The three officers – aged 28, 33 and 38 – were not stood down and continue to perform their duties. They were placed under formal investigation for involuntary manslaughter in 2020 while an investigating judge looked into the case.
A fourth officer, a policewoman, was placed under the more favourable status of "assisted witness" and escapes prosecution.
The prosecutor’s request, made public on Tuesday, seeks to bring the three officers before a criminal court on the charge of involuntary manslaughter.
The information was confirmed by a source close to the case, following an initial report from the investigative website Mediapart.
The decision to send the officers to trial rests with the investigating judge.
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Emblematic case
The case of Chouviat, a delivery man and father of five, became emblematic of police violence in France.
He was pinned to the ground during a police check in Paris, still wearing his motorcycle helmet.
According to reports, Chouviat was restrained and handcuffed behind his back for one and a half minutes without the officers checking his condition.
Witness footage reportedly shows Chouviat’s legs moving up and down before he fainted. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died two days later, on 5 January.
Revelations from the forensic report showed that Chouviat said “I’m suffocating” nine times in 13 seconds before losing consciousness.
His pleas were similar to those of George Floyd, an African-American man who died during an arrest in Minneapolis in May 2020 – a case that fuelled the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States.
French police questioned over death of Paris delivery man during arrest
Warning signs unnoticed
Throughout the investigation, the police officers claimed they had believed Chouviat was "continuously rebelling" against his arrest.
"If we had heard the expression 'I'm suffocating' even once, we would have stopped," one officer testified to the judge in July 2020.
However, witnesses interpreted Chouviat’s actions as signs of distress, and footage shows the officers continuing regardless.
Investigators noted the officers were trained to recognise such warning signs.
For the Chouviat family’s lawyers, an involuntary manslaughter charge does not fully capture the intent behind the actions.
“A strangulation hold is by nature deliberate,” said family lawyer Arié Alimi, adding: “If the charge remains involuntary manslaughter, the risk of acquittal is high.”
