EXCLUDED RMC. One year after the death of Nahel, shot and killed by a police officer in Nanterre on June 27, 2023, RMC takes you to the office of a children’s judge at the Bobigny court to follow the trial of Adel*, a minor aged 15 years tried for violence against police officers during the riots of June 2023.
Normally, juvenile justice goes behind closed doors, but RMC obtained authorization to follow the sanction hearing of Adel* for violence against persons holding public authority, on May 29, at the judicial court of Bobigny.
On July 6, 2023, Adel* was brought before the juvenile prosecutor’s office in accordance with a circular from Éric Dupond-Moretti who had requested the systematic release of minors arrested in connection with the riots. The 14-year-old teenager was prosecuted for violence against persons holding public authority with a weapon by destination and in a meeting for having thrown a bottle in the direction of police officers in Seine-Saint-Denis on June 29, 2023.
Since then, Adel* has been found guilty at a first hearing on November 15. But as the trials of minors take place in two stages, six months later, Adel* and his mother were once again summoned before the children’s judge so that the courts would pronounce a sanction.
“I am sorry”
The hearing takes place in the council chamber, no black dress, but a magistrate in plain clothes accompanied by his clerk in a small office of 10m². In front of them: Adel, her mother, her lawyer Me Pauline Bouvet and an educator from the Judicial Protection of Youth (PJJ). Despite the more intimate setting than a courtroom, the hearing remains codified and solemn:
“Sir, you are appearing today as part of a sanction hearing,” children’s judge Jean Mesure reminds him.
“As a reminder, it was June 29, 2023 around 11 p.m., in the context of the riots which followed the death of Nahel Merzouk in Nanterre, with barricades and projectile throwing at the police. In police custody, you admitted that you had personally taken a bottle from the ground and thrown the bottle in the direction of the police officers. I specify, adds the magistrate, that in this procedure, the police officers in question have never been identified”. There is, in fact, no civil party at the hearing.
“What do you want to say today regarding these facts? Six months later?” asks the children’s judge. “That I regret,” replies Adel, “that I understood that we could not do justice to ourselves. It was stupid”. “The effect of the group?” asks the judge. He replies: “That’s it”.
“What would you do if you found yourself in this situation again? If you find yourself next to a scene of violence or riots in an urban environment like that, what do you do?” “I’m staying at home,” assures Adel. The judge continues: “Well, I think it was the mother’s instructions at the time to come home before 9 p.m.”.
Adel was unable to meet an educator
The children’s judge had pronounced a curfew for Adel from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. which the minor respected and he also asked that he meet an educator from the Judicial Protection of Youth (PJJ). Seven months later, due to lack of resources, Adel has not met any educators. The magistrate learns it at the hearing without being moved by it, because it is common.
According to a study by the magistrates’ union revealed by RMC, at least 3,350 placement measures ordered by juvenile judges were not carried out last November.
“What are you doing now?”, asks the children’s judge to Adel*. “I’m in cabinetmaking,” replies the teenager. But I don’t go there much anymore.” “What do you want to do then?” “Of the body”.
“And you found this reorientation?” asks the judge. “Yes, I have an appointment on June 17,” replies Adel. Jean Mesure then addresses Adel*’s mother in front of him. She raises her youngest son Adel alone and one of her brothers, the third, the eldest, lives with the father from whom she separated after domestic violence.
“So, how are things going at home?” asks the magistrate. “It’s going very well,” replies the mother. Adel doesn’t go out much anymore. No scheduling problem”. The judge added: “And at the level of integration into schooling, is he able to mobilize?”
“He doesn’t go there anymore. But there, he has an appointment for a work-study program on June 17 and he accepted with my mother, because even he no longer wants to stay in the Paris region.”
Complaint against the IGPN
The question arises whether or not to maintain the measure which attributes an educator to Adel*. The mother, a little worried that her son will not obtain his work-study program, is in favor of it, Adel tells her that he does not need it. “The aim of these measures, beyond helping you in your integration, explains the children’s judge, was to prevent the repetition of the facts. And from this point of view, obviously, your part of the contract is fulfilled since there has been no new prosecution since”.
As in a classic trial, Adel’s lawyer Pauline Bouvet pleads in her defense: “The only medical certificate we have in this file is that of Adel* which mentions five days of ITT. Adel was traumatized by the violence he suffered during his arrest by seven police officers. He was only 14 years old.” The lawyer presents to the judge a series of photos of Adel’s face taken at the Judicial Medico Units after his arrest.
“A very large hematoma above the left eye. Another very significant hematoma on the right cheekbone. What does that mean?” asks Me Bouvet. “That means that he was punched. We have filed a complaint with the IGPN,” announces Me Bouvet.
She pleads for exemption from sentence and any measure “taking into account the age of the facts, the fact that he is a first offender and that there is no civil party”.
Judicial warning
Without delay, the children’s judge informs his decision, “because it is the first time, because you are young, because there is an educational framework which is set by the mother. I will indeed be satisfied with a judicial warning”, without educational follow-up.
This conviction will not be accessible to Adel*’s future employers, “we must nevertheless understand that the justice system and the police will remember what happened sir, explains Jean Mesure. I also remind you that this conviction targets the acts of violence which were committed against officials of the national police. What is being targeted is not the fact of having political opinions when you are your age, because that is very good, but the way of expressing one’s political opinions must always be exclusive to all violence”.
At the end of the hearing, Adel* can finally turn the page. His mother is relieved. “We’ll say, it’s a blessing in disguise. That’s what happened, Adel, it’s over, he doesn’t want to return to police custody. He doesn’t want to deal with the police anymore. It’s true that there were several stages of justice and it worked a lot for us. Adel wasn’t okay until it was over. And even at home, his behavior changed. I am happy with my son. It served as a lesson to him. She adds, justice is there to set things right. And I hope that the police take responsibility for what they also did to my son”, in reference to the report sent to the IGPN.
RMC has heard from Adel since the hearing, he obtained his work-study in bodywork as he wished.
