French policeman faces trial for protest violence

Police have frequently clashed with yellow vest protesters. File photo: AP

A French policeman appeared in court on Thursday for hurling a paving stone at protesters during a "yellow vest" rally, the first member of the security forces to face trial after numerous allegations of police brutality during the weekly protests.



The case comes just days after the first anniversary of the anti-government rallies, which were again marked by rioting and vandalism last Saturday.



It is the first arising from 212 cases of alleged police brutality being investigated by the IGPN police oversight body.



Demonstrators accuse police of using excessive force to suppress the movement, in particular the use of rubber bullets which activists say have caused some two dozen people to lose an eye.



Around 2,500 demonstrators and 1,800 security force members have been injured since the protests began, according to an official count.



The 44-year-old officer on trial Thursday was caught on camera in the act of throwing the stone at the May 1 protest in Paris. The video did not show where the stone landed or if anyone was hit.



The prosecution on Thursday asked for the officer to receive a three-month suspended jail sentence for "deliberate violence by a person in a position of public authority".



In an emotional statement to the court, the accused said he acted "out of fear", not anger, because his commanding officer was struck in the face by a paving stone and badly injured.



The SGP police union has accused the judiciary of trying to make a "scapegoat" of him and argued that he had acted in self-defence.



His lawyer Laurent Boguet told the court that May 1 was a "very violent day" on which police had come under attack from stone-throwing protesters.



The judge in the case said the video clips were "harmful" to the image of the police while at the same time noting the "aggressive crowd" and the "shock of stone-throwing" at the demonstration.



A verdict in the case will be announced on December 19. (AFP)