Toulouse: were the agents of GITES, the HLM security company, too brutal?
Two young people from the Bellefontaine district claim to have been victims of assault on the part of a GITES agent, who deny it.
“I am traumatized, I no longer dare to go out.” A few days after the events, Brahim and Samad, 16 and 18, are still in shock. Sunday, November 7, in the afternoon, the two friends are sitting on a bench near one of the immense towers of the Bellefontaine city, where they live. A dozen security guards interrupt the discussion of the two young people. They would have ordered them to pick up the rubbish at their feet. These agents belong to the groupement interquartiers de tranquillité et de sécurité (GITeS), the company employed by social funders to ensure tranquility in the common areas.
“They were not ours,” says Brahim. He details: “One of the agents grabbed my friend, I wanted to separate them. Another pushed me and wanted to tackle me to the ground. He slipped. I think his colleagues wanted to save his honor and overpowered me ”. A police patrol quickly arrived on the scene and took charge of the young man.
A few days later, Wednesday November 10, in the early evening, Samad leaves his home to join a friend. As he pushed open the hall door, he found himself face to face with the GITeS agents he had met a few days earlier. The 18-year-old claims to have been “blocked” by them when leaving. “I’m trying to get out, I’m told it’s not possible. I ask them to leave me alone. A few insults burst forth, he admits. Two officers grab me and another punches me hard. I know. They blew my nose. Young people from the neighborhood help me to leave ”.
Two complaints filed
When contacted, the GIT defends a completely different version of the facts. On Sunday, the company said that the agents “evicted individuals from the halls causing significant nuisance: shouting, urination, obstructions to traffic, throwing rubbish”.
“One of the individuals, lastingly known to the GITES, excited the individuals present and appealed against the violence to the peace officer. An individual was attempting at this time to hit an officer in the head with a chair he had seized for this purpose. Another officer rushed forward and brought him to the ground, saving his colleague from a serious injury, ”relates the security company.
This Wednesday, GiTes agents say they were victims of threats of death and beatings, given with a bicycle. “Our agents were obliged to put an end to the aggression by the use of proportionate force and a stopping of stones”. Friday also during a patrol. Brahim and Samad have filed a complaint against GiTeS.