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Not only the police are blind on the right eye – their victims, as well.

The article „Witness wanted: Police officer punched in the face during confrontation in the city“ will be published on the RTL.lu website on National Day itself, 23.06.2021. This is, as is systematically done at RTL, a copy of the information from the Police report from the previous night. None of the information is verified. It is also clear from the police report that the police were not just observing, but were involved in a way that resulted in a person being taken to hospital. At the very least, RTL should have been clear that when copying the statements from the report, they were reproducing the representation of a single party in a confrontation. But the police statements are not questioned. In addition, the police’s call for witnesses is copied, meaning that RTL is passing on the witnesses directly to the authority that is obviously interested in a particular representation of the facts.

Videos that spread quickly on social media after the incident quickly create a picture that paints a different picture of the police response. One of the images shows a police officer blindly beating himself with a baton. A few days later, RTL reports with the news „After mass brawl behind the palace: Two investigations: One due to rebellion and one due to police misconduct“ – however, the two investigations do not revolve around the same case. In one of the two incidents, the IGP has in the meantime opened an investigation due to police misconduct. RTL writes: „In this incident, a person was seriously injured in the face“. „Yes“, as if the injury to the person, which they have not mentioned so far, was generally known. RTL also provides context in this article: „At 2.30 a.m., a group of young people rioted behind the palace and provoked the police. Videos available to us show violent confrontations and how the police used pepper spray and batons“. It is an extremely biased and unobjective description that basically solves all questions, but already pre-judges „a group of young people“ by accusing them of having „rampant“, whatever that means. With this representation, RTL is already preparing the ground for the police argument.

„What exactly happened“?

Meanwhile, photos of the 19-year-old victim of police violence can be seen on social networks. The injured person risks losing his eye, his lawyer is filing complaints. Time for RTL to investigate again. On July 3, more than 10 days after the incident, the big report is airing in the Journal in the evening. Frank Goetz moderates: „What exactly happened on the night before National Day behind the palace? The police write the next day about a scuffle, about a rebellion against police officers.“ Of course, he does not mention that RTL also wrote exactly the same thing at that moment. RTL is now trying to take the position of an independent observer. With the following report by Jeannot Ries, RTL is actually doing the opposite. The victim’s lawyer is allowed to explain why the complaint was filed and that there is a video and an examination by the clinic that would show that the injury clearly came from your police baton.

Halfway through the report, however, RTL then proceeds to discredit the victim: „The young Escher was celebrating on the eve of National Day. He had already had dealings with the police and the judiciary this spring. Because of a drug offense, and a scuffle among students on Kinnekswiss. Facts.“ The information about a drug offense and an incident among students on Kinnekswiss has nothing to do with the subject of the report. In any case, Jeannot Ries calls these slyly disputed, out-of-context accusations „facts“ - and they would be contrary to the suspicions that are still „in the air“ about police violence on the eve of National Day. It also begs the question: where did RTL get this information about the victim? It could actually only have come from the police. And why does RTL investigate the victim’s background instead of that of the perpetrator, the police officer? Overall, RTL thus leaves open the question of who is the perpetrator and who is the victim.

The police’s language mirror

Another report that links RTL to the incident was published on September 27, 2021: „After incidents on the eve of National Day: Police file 6 complaints for insults and threats“. Contrary to what the title suggests, this concerns complaints against people who had insulted and threatened the police in online posts – so there is no direct „connection“. It also remains unclear what the insults and threats were. RTL is copying an „example“ given by the Lëtzebuerger Wort – unlike the Wort, RTL does not mention that there is no confirmation that this is actually the case.

Two months later, the IGP is calling for the suspension of the police officer who severely injured his victim in the face on the eve of National Day. RTL is now noticeably restrained, limiting itself to reproducing information from the word and having it confirmed by the Minister of Police. Regarding the police officer, RTL only concludes: „He has not yet been judged in that instance, so the presumption of innocence applies to him.“ Unlike the other articles, the previous RTL reports are no longer linked.