‘IT WAS MURDER'
THE family of a French delivery driver who died after pleading with cops to stop “choking” him have called for a ban on chokeholds.
In an appeal today, the family of Cedric Chouviat urged authorities to also suspend the four police officers involved in the arrest, during which he pleaded seven times I'm suffocating.
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Cedric Chouviat, 42, died in hospital, two days after his January 3 arrest following a traffic stop near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Chouviat's family have filed a complaint, accusing the four officers of using "dangerous" techniques and claiming that the use of force against him was unwarranted.
Christian Chouviat, the father of the victim, said on January 7: "My son has been assassinated. This is murder."
He added at the time: "My son wasn't attacked by a yob or by a dealer. It was the police. The national police."
The death of Chouviat has similarities with the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, which sparked outrage around the world and a series of Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old black man, died in police custody in a Paris suburb in 2016 and his death became one of France’s most high-profile cases of alleged police brutality.
Chouviat's family appeal follows reports from daily newspaper Le Monde and investigative website Mediapart outlining the details of his 22-second arrest.
Police techniques in restraining people, such as the chokehold, have come under scrutiny after Floyd was killed when Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes.
A manslaughter investigation is underway though investigators have yet to decide whether to press charges against the four police officers involved in the arrest.
In a press conference, Chouviat's daughter, Sofia, said she doesn't understand why the officers have not been suspended and why chokeholds are still being used by police. Her father suffered a fracture of the larynx, she said.
We want answers, she said. We have a feeling of fear, of impunity, we want it to stop, she said.
Chouviat's father, Christian, said his son "was not given any chance to survive”
And Cedric Chouviat's daughter Sofia said she wanted to speak "directly to the president Emmanuel Macron, because my brothers and sisters and I have some questions regarding the suspension of the four police officers who killed our father.
“We cannot understand why they still haven't been suspended and why the chokehold technique has not been banned yet."
While Doria Chouviat, Cedric's widow, is quoted in Le Parisien as saying that it is important to "help the police realise the value of life."
Four French police officers are currently under investigation after transcriptions given to French media by the dead delivery man's family reportedly reveal he shouted "I'm suffocating" seven times during his arrest by cops who allegedly held him in a chokehold.
Speaking to the press today, Bourdon said: "We are calling for calm on behalf of the family. We are appealing [...] to the responsibility of those who are most responsible in this country, that is to say the President of the Republic and the government.”
But it has been revealed that he said "I'm suffocating" seven times before losing consciousness, according to the independent investigative newspaper Mediapart and according to the French newspaper Le Monde.
While witnesses filmed the incident, both newspapers have reportedly seen transcripts from nine videos that Chouviat himself filmed during the 12-minute incident.
Chouviat, a father of five, reportedly said he could not breathe a total of seven times in under thirty seconds as the four police officers pinned him down, as can be seen in other footage of the incident shared online by the Human Rights League (Ligue des droits de l'homme; LDH).
French newspaper Le Monde reported that the officers originally said they had stopped the victim for looking at his smartphone while he was riding his scooter and because his licence plate was dirty.
The officers had claimed that the victim had "insulted" them and been "aggressive."
While Chouviat did call them "clowns", when he asked one officer to say "please", the officer reportedly replied: "Yeah and you think I'm going to get down on all fours and suck your d*ck!?"
While the incident reportedly almost ended peacefully numerous times, it ended up finishing tragically when Chouviat called the officers "buffoons", leading to the reply: "We're bringing him in."
Witnesses reportedly told Le Monde that the police officers had held Mr Chouviat in a chokehold, a controversial move that is illegal in numerous countries.
Earlier this month French officials said they would ban cops from using the chokehold but later reversed the decision a week later after cops demanded more powers to restrain demonstrators.
Now investigators are looking into whether the four police officers, who have not been named, should be charged over Chouviat's death.
Laurent-Franck Lienard, the lawyer for two of the four police officers, had said shortly after the incident that he believed that the victim could not have been subjected to a chokehold, due to his motorcycle helmet. It was therefore the weight of the agents on his back that allegedly caused the tragedy, according to him.
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One of the officers' lawyers, Thibault de Montbrial, declined to comment on the latest reports that are making headlines in France, according to reports.
The four officers were reportedly detained on Wednesday 17 June and have been questioned by the IGPN (Inspection Generale de la Police Nationale - France's Internal Affairs), according to at least one report by L'Express.
A case has been opened for "involuntary homicide." Investigating magistrates now have to decide if the four officers will be charged.
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