After reporting a hit and run at a police station, Mohamed Soumah was dragged to the ground by his hair by an officer.
"I just wanted to report an accident", says Soumah. He has filed a complaint with the General Police Inspectorate, and reached out to our Luxembourgish colleagues at RTL to share his story.
What led to the accident?
On the morning of 11 May, Soumah was driving his three children to school between Insenborn and Eschdorf when a van belonging to the municipality of Esch-Sauer, driving in the opposite direction, hit his left side-view mirror.
Soumah pulled over to inspect the damage and wanted to speak to the municipal worker, but he claims the person drove on. After dropping his kids off at school, he continued to the police station in Heiderscheid to report a hit and run.
Opposing views and aggressive officer
The municipality of Esch-Sauer shared its side of the story: "The municipal worker pulled over and waited a few minutes, but the other vehicle did not stop. There were witnesses," said a person in charge of the technical service.
Because Soumah recognised that it was a municipal van, the police decided to contact the municipality first. "We should file a report," the policeman told Soumah, before he left the police station.
A day later, on 12 May, the 34-year-old saw a municipal van at the sports hall near his children's school, and went over to talk to the worker. "We couldn't agree who was at fault, so we drove back to the police station afterwards," says Soumah.
The officer at the police station filled out a report for Soumah and had him sign it. However, Soumah wanted to continue pressing charges against the municipal worker for not stopping after the accident. The police chief intervened and the discussion became heated, Soumah recounts.
"The chief accused me of being drugged. He asked me to leave the police station, but I wanted to file a complaint. Then he grabbed me by my hair and wanted to drag me out of the police station. I fell and my papers were on the floor. A younger policeman tried to calm his boss down, but he put his knee on my neck while I was lying on the ground. Then other policemen de-escalated the situation."
Soumah was then left alone in the office with the older policeman, who he managed to film with his mobile phone until he left the office.
Case with General Police Inspectorate
The police's press department refrained from commenting on the situation: "The case is now with the General Police Inspectorate, it is their competence and it is an independent body of the police."
The General Inspectorate of Police is an independent body under the Ministry of Internal Security and Justice. The task of this control body is to control the functioning of the police and investigate (internal) incidents.
The Inspectorate confirmed it had received a complaint from Mohamed Soumah.
Later, the younger policeman who was present during the incident came to the police station with Soumah's wife. But the policeman refused to file a complaint against his boss.
After contacting the Center for Equal Treatment, Soumah was directed to the General Police Inspectorate and recommended to see a doctor. The doctor's report only states that the patient's shoulders hurt from the fall, but no injuries were visible from the outside.
It was important to Soumah to take a drug test to refute the policeman's accusations that he "had taken something". No traces of drugs were found in his blood.
Two encounters with same officer before
"I've met the policeman who pulled me by the hair and knelt on me twice before," Soumah says in his interview with RTL.
The first interaction occurred at his home when the police were called that his daughter had not been to school for two days. "My daughter was sick, she was at home. The policeman wanted to see my ID straight away."
During a second time, Soumah was travelling by car when a tree fell onto the road close in front of him. "I braked hard and went off the road. I called the police to report the accident. The same policeman was also there. I received a fine of €145 and 2 points because my tires were not okay. I also accepted that punishment."
Soumah has been living in Luxembourg for 8 years and and gives lectures on West African music in a number of schools. "I always had respect for the police. But during this incident at the police station, I felt treated like a dog."
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