Protesters who set Paris police car ablaze go on trial

Nine men were to go on trial Tuesday over a dramatic attack on Paris police in which a patrol car was torched with two officers still inside it.

Videos of the May 2016 assault, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, show youths dressed in black, most with their faces covered, surrounding the vehicle in the midst of traffic in the heart of the French capital.

One can be seen kicking in the window on the driver's side, and another hurling a flare into the vehicle, eventually causing it to burst into flames.

After the driver, Kevin Philippy, got out of the car, assailants struck him with metal bars.

The incident took place on the sidelines of a demonstration staged by a police union over anti-police violence during protests over contested labour reforms.

The attackers struck after a counter-demonstration against police brutality.

Philippy, who was nicknamed "Kung Fu Policeman" for his technical prowess in barring the blows he received, is a civil plaintiff in the case, along with his female colleague, Allison Barthelemy, and the Alliance police union.

Six of the defendants are charged with "aggravated violence against police officers" and face 10 years in prison.

Three have been in custody since the assault, while five are under house arrest. The man accused of throwing the flare into the car is on the run.

Some have admitted their involvement.

While some police officers have called for the defendants to be tried for attempted murder, the head of the Alliance union, Jean-Claude Delage, simply asked the court to send a "strong signal" with its verdict.

The trial is scheduled to end on Friday.

Source: AFP