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Hijab-wearing women to file complaint over beating by French police

April 19, 2022 at 2:46 pm

Protestors demonstrate against the French Government’s Global Security Law as thousands of people turn out at Place de la Republique to demonstrate at the end of a week of close scrutiny of the French Police on November 28, 2020 in Paris, France [Kiran Ridley/Getty Images]

Two Muslim women wearing headscarves, or the hijab, who were beaten by French police last Thursday on the Clichy Bridge will file a complaint against the officers, their lawyer announced on Twitter, and Anadolu News Agency reports.

Nabil Boudi said his clients who were subjected to police violence, still cannot get over the shock of the incident, but they are determined to see that justice is served.

The complaint will be filed directly to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) for wilful violence by public officers.

Video footage of the attack showed the police had beaten two women wearing headscarves for minutes in the middle of the road, punched one of them, and tried to throw the other one to the ground.

READ: French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen ridiculed for remarks on hijab

In other video footage taken by a woman passing by, the police continued to attack the women, despite warnings from people at the scene, claiming they had the authority to beat them.

After the video footage went viral, many users on social media commented that the French police were Islamophobic.

The Paris Police Department, in a statement, claimed that the two women prevented a police car from stopping a suspicious vehicle by crossing the road.

Based on witnesses’ reports, it was stated, contrary to the French police’s statement, that the police had beaten the two young women, who were exercising their right of passage, for Islamophobic reasons, and that the statement was “made up” to protect the police.