On June 27, 2023, Nahel, 17, was killed by a police officer in Nanterre during a check.
This Saturday, June 29, a silent march in tribute to the deceased teenager is organized from 2 p.m. in the Hauts-de-Seine city.
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France shaken by wave of urban violence after Nahel’s death
A victim, riots, and many unanswered questions. A year later, a march in tribute to Nahel, killed at the age of 17 on June 27, 2023 by a police officer during a check, is organized on Saturday in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), an affair which had caused several days of riots and became a symbol of the fight against police violence.
The march will start at 2 p.m. from the Charles de Gaulle esplanade, a few hundred meters from the Pablo Picasso district, where the teenager lived. The procession will then follow Pesaro Boulevard before reaching Nelson Mandela Square, where Nahel died.
Victim’s mother to speak
“It will be a silent march, where I will give a little speech,” declared Mounia Merzouk, Nahel’s mother, on Thursday at the microphone of RTL. She will talk about her son, “how he was” and how to live “a grieving mother”.
Some 500 to 800 people are expected, according to a police source, with no risk of any particular disturbance expected. This demonstration was the subject of a declaration to the prefecture, according to the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture.
Police maintained that they were in mortal danger
According to elements of the investigation, following a chase, the vehicle driven by Nahel was stopped by traffic. A first police version, according to which the young man drove towards the biker, was quickly refuted by a video of the scene posted on social networks.
The two police officers are seen on the side of the vehicle, pointing their guns at the driver. One of them shoots him as the vehicle starts moving again. The car then crashes into a concrete block a few dozen meters away. The police officers maintained that they were in mortal danger, as they were stuck between the car and a wall.
Florian M., a police motorcyclist aged 38 at the time of the events and indicted for murder, was placed in pre-trial detention for five months. He was released and placed under judicial supervision in November after several requests from his counsel.
