Violence against an LDH observer: Brav-M police officer sentenced to citizenship training

This Tuesday, May 20, 2025, a Brav-M police officer appeared before the Paris Criminal Court for "intentional violence by a person in a position of public authority, without incapacity for work," against Daniel Bouy, an observer from the Human Rights League (LDH) .

During the May ¹ , 2021 demonstration, the defendant pushed and knocked to the ground the observer who was filming the law enforcement operations alongside two other colleagues.

Visible in a video that L'Humanité had published as early as May 4, 2021, this action came in a context of strong criticism against one of the provisions of the "global security law" aimed, under the leadership of Gérald Darmanin, then Minister of the Interior, to penalize the dissemination of images of gendarmes or police officers. A provision censored by the Constitutional Council on May 20, 2021.

Daniel Bouy is no stranger to demonstrations. As a retired television journalist, he has covered many. But also because, on May 1, 2021, he was attending his "sixth or seventh" demonstration as an LDH observer, alongside two other colleagues. Their approach is well defined.

First, they always act in trios: one films, another takes notes on a Dictaphone, and the last ensures the safety of his colleagues. And above all, because this practice "is part of the framework of international law," as Nathalie Tehio, president of the LDH, reminded the court. She emphasized that these acts of violence against LDH observers are not isolated and that, very often, the officials incriminated were not wearing their RIO, the registration number used to identify each police officer, despite the obligation imposed on them.

At the time of the incident, Brav-M police officers charged the protesters to arrest the person who had thrown a projectile. Daniel Bouy filmed the police officers who were in front of him and his colleagues. He then described a two-part action: "I saw a police officer stop right in front of me. A second later, I was pushed. I got up and stood behind the police officers," who were then on the sidewalk, facing the protesters. A few days later, one of these protesters sent the LDH a video showing the attack on Daniel Bouy. "That's when I realized that a police officer had pushed me," he emphasized.

In court, the Brav-M officer gave the same account he'd been giving since the beginning of the investigation. According to him, Daniel Bouy was an "obstacle" in his path to arrest. He pushed the observer only to get him out of his way and catch the person who threw the projectile. During a charge of this type, the police officer argued, observers are "protesters like any other."

Yet the three LDH members were wearing blue helmets—which are prohibited for protesters—and white vests that covered them entirely and clearly indicated their position. "At no time was there any intention to injure or harm anyone," the officer repeated, claiming to have only seen Daniel Bouy's vest during his fall. Was this gesture intended to deter those filming the police action, in the tense context of the debates on the global security law? "I find that a bit much. If we were to scare everyone who filmed..." the official replied.

Physically unharmed, Daniel Bouy believes that the harm he suffered primarily affected the exercise of his citizenship: "It raises questions for me as a citizen about the role of the police," he stressed in court. While the prosecutor had requested a 90-day fine of €10, or €900, the court found the police officer guilty and sentenced him to a citizenship course, focusing in particular on "ethics" and the "values ​​of the Republic," without a criminal record.

But the police officer will face another court date next year, alongside two of his colleagues, for "group violence by persons in authority" committed on the fringes of demonstrations against pension reform.

"The sentence is what I hoped for," commented Daniel Bouy after the trial. "It's a reminder to police officers in general: they should not behave this way with civilians during a demonstration."