EUNICE BARBER, the French former world athletics champion, broke down in tears yesterday when she asserted that she had been the victim of police brutality and racist abuse when she was arrested outside Paris.

Barber, who has won gold medals for France in the heptathlon and the long jump, said that she was left distraught and injured after being stopped by police officers for driving down a street that had been blocked off.

“They put me in the black maria (police van). There, two women stepped on my hands and on my head. They told me, ‘Do you believe you could behave like this in Africa?’ ” At a news conference in Paris, she continued: “They told me, ‘You are lucky that there are people looking; otherwise, we would have done much worse. When you get out of here you’ll need crutches ’.

“My mouth bled. I can no longer use my arm. I have to see a doctor because my two hands are numb,” Barber, who was wearing a neck brace, said.

Her comments are likely to fuel simmering anger among ethnic minorities in France over what they see as widespread racism in the police.

The anger exploded into riots in city suburbs last autumn and is threatening to do so again amid student protests over labour-law reforms. The latest alleged incident took place near the Stade de France in one of the suburbs that was the focus of ethnic riots last year.

The 31-year-old athlete, who was born in Sierra Leone and acquired French nationality in 1999, has a made a formal complaint to the police and may also sue the officers who arrested her a week ago.

Officials said, however, that Barber had assaulted the officers and bitten two of them after refusing to stop when flagged down near the national stadium. Her mother and nephew were travelling with her.

She was detained in police custody overnight but released without charge. French judicial sources said that she may be summoned for questioning at a later date.

The French sports daily L’Équipe published photographs yesterday that appeared to support Barber’s claim to have been the victim and not the aggressor.

Taken by a passer-by, they showed five officers kneeling on her as she lay on the street. She said: “I took a left turn while the officer indicated for me to turn right. But I didn’t understand what he was wanting from me. He then banged on my car. I scrolled down the window and he slapped my face. I got out of the car and more officers showed up.

“One twisted my hand and another one pulled my hair. They then threw me on the ground. My hands and my arms are the tools of my trade. I told myself I was never going to be able to throw the shot or the javelin again. I was desperate and I bit a police officer.

“I’m trying to understand what happened,” she said. “Mentally, I’m bewildered. I feel as affected psychologically as physically.”

She denounced some French police officers as racists, adding that they were “full of hate because they work in rather rough neighbourhoods”.

Her comments were supported by another French champion athlete, the sprinter Christine Arron. “The real problem is that it’s clear that a large proportion of police officers are racist,” Arron said.

No deal in crisis talks

TALKS between Dominique de Villepin, the French Prime Minister, and trade unions ended in deadlock yesterday after he refused to withdraw his First Employment Contract (CPE) for young people. But M de Villepin agreed to meet student representatives today at noon.

Unions and student groups have staged two weeks of protests against the CPE — a contract for under 26-year-olds that can be terminated during a two-year trial period without justification — and a new day of strikes and demonstrations is planned for Tuesday.

On Thursday demonstrations led to scenes of violence in central Paris. Police have made 1,420 arrests and 453 people have been injured.

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