In 2009, in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis), Joachim Gatti, a demonstrator, was blinded by the shooting of a police officer’s LBD (defense bullet launcher). In criminal proceedings, the official convicted of the shooting had been sentenced on appeal in 2018 to 18 months in prison suspended and 24 months prohibited from carrying a weapon.
From administrative justice, the victim – a former cameraman converted to social work – requested the sum of 508,508 euros in compensation for several damages. This Thursday, the administrative court of Montreuil ended up condemning the State to pay “105,350 euros in compensation for the damage suffered”.
The judges notably admitted property damage linked to a loss of income. “The applicant demonstrates that his state of health does not allow him to hope for a normal development of his professional life, in that his injury prevents him from exercising the professions of cameraman and editor which he previously occupied , as well as any professional activity requiring normal visual acuity, thus limiting its possibilities of professional retraining”, write the judges. Since the facts, the former cameraman has worked intermittently as a cook or educator.
A “permanent functional deficit”
The judges also recognized a “permanent functional deficit”, ie the inability to return to a normal life observed after the consolidation of the state of health, aesthetic damage and suffering. The administrative court, however, reduced the amount of the damage, reducing it from an initial estimate of 150,500 euros to 105,350 euros, due to “the culpable imprudence of the victim” who took part in a “regrouping having shown an aggressive attitude then having been at the origin of violence against the police”. The State will also have to pay 10,106 to the primary health insurance fund (CPAM) of Seine-Saint-Denis which has incurred several health expenses linked to the hospitalizations and care of Joachim Gatti.
This case, which has become a symbol of police violence, dates back to July 8, 2009. The police intervened to repel demonstrators gathered in front of a squat in Montreuil, in Seine-Saint-Denis.
