Police officers go on trial over assault of Black footballer that shocked France

Three accused of violence against Theodore Luhaka in 2017 that left him with permanent disabilities

Three police officers have gone on trial north of Paris accused of assaulting a 22-year-old footballer in 2017, in one of the most significant cases of alleged police violence against a Black man in France in the past decade.

Theodore Luhaka, who had been talking to friends on his housing estate in Aulnay-sous-Bois at the end of the afternoon of February 2017, was stopped as part of a police identity check. He was teargassed, beaten on the face and body, and left with permanent disabilities and incontinence after an extendable police baton perforated his anus.