"Aman = peace": classmates, football friends, teachers and parents, some 500 people walked this Sunday in Epinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis) to pay tribute to this 16 year old adolescent, shot dead against the backdrop of rivalry between cities.
"He was nice, funny, a bit of a roomer," recalls Katleen, 16, in the same class as Aman at the Louise-Michel vocational college. His death is "unacceptable", adds Prescillia, 15. At the head of the procession, the two friends hold a large banner "never again."
Unknown to police
The demonstrators, dressed in a white T-shirt marked "Aman = peace", marched in silence from the town hall, close to the HLM building where the teenager lived with his family of Comorian origin, until Orgemont district. It was in this city, one of the largest in 93, that he was killed by sawn-off rifle fire on the night of June 5 to 6, against a background of rivalries with the neighboring district of Raguenets in Saint-Gratien (Val-d'Oise).
The boy, unknown to the police, was not targeted and had nothing to do with these conflicts. He was right there "in the wrong place at the wrong time," according to investigators. Two men, 18 and 19, were charged and imprisoned for "homicide in an organized gang".
"Epinay is much more than a city"
Aman's death is all the more striking since he was trying "to his small level" to appease these inter-district rivalries, told his relatives to AFP. "At least today, the message of peace he wanted to carry is conveyed by all," slides Naïma, Aman's cousin, tears in her eyes.
After his death, "hundreds of people came to the house, young, old, middle-aged, mothers," said his big brother, in a moving speech read at the end of the march. "Friends of the Source, the Presles, Super M, Orgemont," he added, listing the names of all the cities in the city, before the young teens in tears. “All of this to make you understand that Epinay is much more than a city, it is a family. Aman = Peace and Epinay = family, "he said again.
Rivalries with obscure origins
Aman's mother, supported by his family, then went to lay a wreath of white flowers on the sidewalk where he died. "Those who want it to stop are here today, but there are all the others," sighs Amine, 18, a friend of Aman. Schooled in a high school in the city center, but living in Orgemont, he too tried to "dodge the confusion". “I sometimes wait 1 or 2 hours in the school before going out, when I see that there are people from the city center. I know they could hit me or try to steal my stuff. ”
These rivalries, with obscure origins, "existed before we were born," adds Boby, 18. "But before it was just with fists, now there are weapons." Among the protesters, parents, like Eric, 53, whose son is also at Louise Michel high school. “20 years ago, there was already a similar drama. A child playing in a sandbox had received a stray ball. He remained paralyzed for life, ”he told AFP. "Today, I'm here to say that it has to stop".
Paris
Epinay-sur-Seine: A couple and their sons stabbed in their building
- News
- Paris