Two members of the French national police in New Caledonia have been charged with using excessive force against two people.
Four policemen had been detained and two of them were charged after two days of questioning.
The alleged violence occurred when the two officers were trying to check the identity of the two who refused to comply.
Officials say one of the two men was slapped while the other suffered a perforated eardrum.
One of them was unable to work for two weeks.
Police unions have held a small protest to object to this becoming a judicial matter, saying they would have preferred it to have been dealt with in an administrative inquiry.
