New probe begins into accusations of French police violence

PARIS – French authorities have launched a new investigation into alleged police abuse by an officer already accused in a rape case that sparked a week of scattered violence in the troubled suburbs of Paris.

The prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Bobigny announced a preliminary investigation into the new accusations Tuesday.

They came from a young black man who was quoted by Obs magazine and BFM television as saying plainclothes officers stopped him Jan. 26 for suspected drug dealing and beat him violently, spit on him and used racist slurs.

One of the officers is already under investigation in the alleged sodomizing of another young black man during an arrest Feb. 2.

The reported sexual attack has prompted violent protests in minority neighbourhoods. French President Francois Hollande has called for calm.