Members of the Chechen community gathered in Rennes on Saturday to honor the memory of the young man shot dead last week in the Cleunay district.

-

JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP

  • Several hundred members of the Chechen community gathered in Rennes on Saturday in tribute to the young man shot dead last week.

  • They also denounce the stigmatization that they believe their community is subject to.

  • An open letter to this effect was sent to the Minister of the Interior.

They gathered in the calm of the Cleunay district in Rennes before observing a time of prayer near the scene of the tragedy.

On Saturday, around 400 Chechens demonstrated against the stigma they say their community is subject to and to honor the memory of one of theirs shot dead last week in the Breton capital.

"We are shot twice: the first time to kill us, the second time to make us dirty," denounced Magomed, 30, neighbor of Hamzat Labazanov, 23, shot in the head on March 17. in the Cleunay district.

Two men in their twenties, known to the courts, were indicted for murder in an organized gang and complicity and imprisoned.

On the day of the events, the Rennes prosecutor Philippe Astruc had mentioned a "possible settlement of accounts against a background of drug trafficking".

“As soon as something happens with a Chechen, we are stuck this label, regretted Magomed.

The members of our community are dying and it is we who are accused ”.

According to his relatives, Hamzat was killed because he wanted to chase drug dealers from the lobby of his building.

During the rally, the victim's father called for calm and asked the younger ones to keep their distance from dealing points.

An open letter addressed to the Minister of the Interior

In Strasbourg, around 150 Chechens also gathered at Place de la République, some of whom came from Paris, Nice or Reims.

“We ourselves are assimilated to traffickers.

This is something we do not understand, ”denounced Shamil Albakov, spokesperson for the Assembly of Chechens in Europe.

"It is not because we live in working-class neighborhoods that we can be denigrated, or that young people can be killed," he added.

“We demand that the Chechen origin is not systematically associated with criminality.

In the media, the word “Chechen” is systematically associated with violence or criminality, ”added lawyer Zelimkhan Chavkhalov.

For Ousman Artchakov, spokesperson for the Daymohk association, "our only fault is that we do not give in to these dealers".

Several associations sent an open letter to the Minister of the Interior on Saturday.

“Our origin is constantly being dragged through the mud (…) We will not stop fighting for our rights to refute these prejudices”, they write in particular.

Reindeer

A second indictment after the fatal shooting in the Cleunay district in Rennes

Reindeer

Three teenagers wounded with knives in Rennes city center

  • Dealer

  • Shooting

  • Demonstration

  • Drug traffic

  • Reindeer

  • Society

  • Tchetchenie