2009-04-08
France's police force has landed in hot water for its actions during the Strasbourg NATO summit over the weekend. In an email to unions leaked to AFP, a policeman blames his superiors for putting his life in danger.
A police officer who was trapped inside the Strasbourg hotel that was burnt by protesters during the NATO summit last weekend has blamed his superiors for putting his and his colleagues’ lives in danger.
In an email sent Tuesday to police unions, the cop accuses his bosses to have been late in their rescue effort. “We were in the Ibis hotel when activists from the ‘Black Block’ attacked with extreme violence,” he wrote. “I looked at death in the eyes during a good half-hour.”
The French police strategy in the violent riots that unfolded as NATO heads of states and governments discussed the future of the alliance has come under severe criticism.