NANTERRE – It was a year ago. Several hundred people gathered this Saturday, June 29 in Nanterre to pay tribute to Nahel, 17, whose death during a police check had caused several days of riots throughout the country.
One year after the death of Nahel, killed by a police officer in Nanterre, what we know about the investigation
Led away by the victim’s mother and relatives behind a banner “Justice for Nahel and for all the others”the procession set off early in the afternoon from the Charles-de-Gaulle esplanade, a few hundred meters from the Pablo-Picasso district where the teenager lived, towards the Nelson-Mandela square where the teenager died.
Behind them, many silent young people wearing white T-shirts “Justice for Nahel, executed on 06/27/2023”. “We are here to support the mother”explained to AFP Fatou, 16, who came with them from her friends.
“When I go home, I have no one left”
As you can see in the video at the top of the articleMounia Merzouk, Nahel’s mother addressed the crowd, wiping her tears: “ You see me like this, dressed, brushed, it’s just exteriorshe threw at them. I have to show you something outside, I can’t show you how I live at home, when I come home I have no one left. »
The young man was killed on June 27, 2023 by a bullet fired at close range by a motorcycle police officer who was controlling the vehicle he was driving.
According to elements of the investigation, the vehicle driven by Nahel had been stopped by traffic at the end of a chase. An initial police version, according to which the young man had charged at the motorcyclist, was quickly refuted by an amateur video of the scene posted on social networks.
We see the two police officers on the side of the vehicle, pointing their guns at the driver. One of them opens fire as the vehicle starts again. The car then crashed into a concrete block, a few dozen meters further on.
The author of the shooting placed under judicial supervision
The police maintained that they were in mortal danger because they were trapped between the car and a wall. The shooter, Florian M., a 38-year-old motorcyclist at the time of the shooting, was charged with murder and imprisoned for five months. He was released and placed under judicial supervision in November after several requests from his lawyer.
A reconstruction of the facts took place on May 5: in the presence of their lawyers, the police officer responsible for the shooting, his colleague present that day and several witnesses were compared their statements, in particular to establish whether Florian M. was in danger of death.
Nahel’s death sparked riots of exceptional magnitude across France. Public buildings were attacked, schools and courts burned, shops looted: a Senate report estimated that the damage caused by the riots, shorter but more intense than those of 2005, had cost one billion euros.
Also see on HuffPost:
Tribute to Nahel in Nanterre: her mother Mounia Merzouk calls for “calm, dignity” during the march
Death of Nahel: a year later, his mother waits for the policeman’s trial to leave France
