photo Mikael Marguerie/Creative Commons

photo Mikael Marguerie/Creative Commons   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Paris has been rocked by days of protests following the horrific assault by police on a black youth worker from the poor northern suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.

The victim, 22-year old Theo, remains in hospital following major surgery after being raped with a truncheon during his arrest by four policemen. The police claim “it was an accident”!

A bedside visit by President Hollande has done little to quell people’s anger over this crime. Many, especially in the socially deprived outer Paris neighbourhoods, view the police as oppressors.

Indeed, Aulnay-sous-Bois, where Theo lives, was one of the suburbs which saw an uprising and violent clashes between police and youth in 2005, triggered when two teenagers being chased by police were electrocuted. The rioting which followed led to Nicolas Sarkozy, then interior minister, declaring a state of emergency.