Six years after surveillance footage of his beating sparked national outrage, music producer Michel Zecler finally had his day in court on Monday, as three police officers went on trial before the Paris criminal court. The proceedings are scheduled to run until November 20.
“I’ve been waiting six years for this,” Zecler, 47, told the newspaper Libération ahead of the hearing. The trial marks the end of a long wait for the producer, whose case became a symbol of police violence in France after the videos surfaced in late 2020.
A violent encounter during lockdown
The events date back to November 21, 2020, during France’s second Covid-19 lockdown. Zecler was entering his recording studio in Paris’s 17th arrondissement when officers approached him, accusing him of not wearing a mask and suspecting him of having used cannabis. The encounter quickly escalated.
Inside the studio, three officers punched and struck him with batons for several minutes. Zecler did not fight back, as shown in surveillance footage released days later.
The violence did not stop at the studio doors. After a tear gas grenade was fired into the premises, the producer was dragged outside and beaten again in the street, captured in a second video filmed by a neighbor. Zecler says he was subjected to racist insults during the assault.
Footage that changed the case
The release of the images upended the case. They contradicted the officers’ initial account, which stated in their report that Zecler had struck them and tried to seize a baton. The footage triggered widespread indignation, and President Emmanuel Macron said the images filled him with “shame.”
During the investigation, the officers acknowledged that their report did not reflect what actually happened, while maintaining they feared for their lives. They deny any racist motivation.
Six years on, those same images form the core of the case before the Paris criminal court. The three officers face charges of “intentional group violence” and “forgery of public documents by a person holding public authority,” and could face up to 15 years in prison. A fourth officer will be tried separately.
Judges declined to retain the aggravating circumstance of racism, citing insufficient evidence. “I was insulted. And I will say so again at the hearing,” Zecler told AFP.
“They took a part of me”
While the footage documented the violence, it did not capture its aftermath. Six years later, Zecler still bears the physical and psychological scars. A medical assessment conducted after the attack found craniofacial trauma, multiple wounds and a complete rupture of the biceps tendon, resulting in 45 days of total work incapacity. He told Le Parisien that he still carries a titanium pin in his arm.
His daily life has changed as well. Zecler told Libération that he has become more solitary and goes out far less than before. As the trial approached, he said his nightmares returned. “I sleep very little,” he said, also describing memory problems and difficulty concentrating.
“This case completely… it completely wrecked my life,” he told Libération. He explained that it took him several years to accept being considered a victim, a status with which he remains uncomfortable.
Speaking to Le Parisien, he reflected on what the past six years have cost him. “On November 21, they took a part of me that no longer exists. I lost friends. I have loved ones who encouraged me and who died before this trial.”
A trial with wider significance
Beyond his own injuries, Zecler wants the court to rule on the facts. He called for a decision “commensurate with their gravity,” citing the beatings, the racist insults and the falsified report.
The producer is also aware that his case has taken on a dimension beyond his own story. “This trial is for all those who didn’t have a camera,” he told Le Parisien.
