An Afghan man desperate to return home to his country says he got naked and flashed three female French police officers, a move he said was done to help push authorities into sending him back home. French authorities, however, say that it is not possible to send the Afghan repeat offender home.
In court, when asked about his actions, the 33-year-old unemployed migrant said, in his native language, “I got naked so the police officers would understand my situation. If they don’t send me back to Afghanistan, I’ll start getting naked every time. But everything’s fine for me, even if it’s complicated to complete administrative procedures, not speaking French,” he said, according to a report from French news outlet Le Télégramme.
He was taken into custody on Sept. 1 for sexual assault. During a police questioning, he caused a commotion by completely undressing in front of three female officers and refusing to put his clothes back on. He is being tried in court for indecent exposure.
The man has multiple arrests for various offenses, including a previous sexual assault against a nurse in a hospital in Angoulême, France. He was already under judicial supervision at the time he flashed the three female officers.
The judge also asked him why he only undressed in front of female officers, but the man remained silent in response to this question.
One of the main issues with the man being sent home is that he, like many illegal migrants, has no passport. Many toss their passport before entering Europe in order to complicate efforts for authorities to deport them back home, however, in chaotic countries like Afghanistan, many citizens fail to obtain a passport in the first place.
“How can we send you back to your country since you don’t have a passport? Your country will not accept you.” the judge asked the man.
The Afghan has a troubled history, with his medical report indicating he has “personality disorders, a suicide attempt, and fluctuating responses.”
However, the man was not exactly poor before he left Afghanistan. In fact, his medical report indicated that he claimed to have paid smugglers €27,000 to leave his country. He says he now wants to return to Afghanistan to his wife and five children.
His lawyer argued, “There has been no recent psychiatric assessment to determine his condition at the time of these events. It is not certain that he understands the sentence that will be handed down. It is an act of protest, without any sexual provocation. He has a residence permit in France, but he must renounce it to be able to return to his country.” The lawyer added, “But in the meantime, he needs care.”
The lawyer for the police officers recounted, “This is the first time in 12 years of service that these three women have experienced such a situation. This man behaved in such a way, even though he was about to be released, and he fully understood what the interpreter was translating for him.”
The prosecutor requested eight months in prison for the Afghan man, stating, “He has no fixed address, and his previous judicial supervision had no effect on him. His psychiatric assessment is recent, dating from March 2025: It is significant in highlighting an impairment of judgment. But he knows what he’s doing when he gets naked. He refused to get dressed, even going so far as to remove the blanket the officers had handed him to hide his genitals. He behaved dangerously, with a desire to commit this offense.” The prosecutor also noted that the officers filed a complaint because of his “disturbing attitude,” which was similar to his behavior with the nurse he assaulted.
The court ultimately sentenced the man to six months in prison and ordered him to pay €200 in damages to each of the three police officers.
