A French judge has ruled that a policeman charged with destroying a protester's eye with a tear gas grenade must stand trial in Paris, amid a context of close scrutiny of the use of riot weapons.
The case stems from the partial blinding of Manuel Coisne, who had been struck in the eye by the projectile during a January 2019 "Yellow Vest" protest in Paris.
Identified only as Fabrice T., the officer faces charges of deliberate violence causing a permanent disability committed by a public official. He has been accused of failing to respect regulations that call for gas grenades to be launched at an angle of at least 30 degrees, rather than fired directly into crowds.
The policeman's shot "forcefully struck the left eye of Manuel Coisne (...) causing the irreversible loss" of the organ, the judge said in a court document dated Thursday, October 24, but seen on Friday by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Criminal proceedings against this policeman who destroyed Manu Coisne's eye (...) are a relief," Coisne's lawyer Arié Alimi told AFP.
Fabrice T.'s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the 2018-19 Yellow Vest protests, hundreds of thousands of people swarmed through French cities, in a show of rage against President Emmanuel Macron's policies, rising fuel prices and a cost-of-living crisis.
In total, 23 protesters lost an eye during those demonstrations, according to an AFP tally, allegedly when police fired rubber and other projectiles. However, no police officer has so far been convicted. One was cleared in court, while other cases were dropped.
Coisne took part in a demonstration on Paris' Place d'Italie square, on November 16, 2019, that descended into violence.
Surveillance video shows Coisne, then aged 41, was speaking with other demonstrators, away from the clashes, when he was suddenly hit by a tear gas grenade on the left side of his face.
The judge's decision for the trial to go ahead went against prosecutors' recommendation to drop the case. His actions were "in line with the training the accused received" they wrote – despite the police, a ballistics expert and the weapon's manufacturer all considering it a proscribed direct shot.
Prosecutors last month requested a trial for another officer accused of firing the rubber bullet that destroyed the eye of a prominent "Yellow Vest" protester.
The weapons have been involved in further contested incidents since then. A number of people were blinded or suffered other serious injuries in the summer 2023 riots, following the police shooting of a teen during a Paris region traffic stop.