The investigation into the death of Adama Traore, complicated by the contradictions of the experts, continues to shed light on the exact causes of the death. On July 19, 2016, Adama Traoré died in the barracks of the gendarmes of Persan (Val-d'Oise), almost two hours after his arrest in his city of Beaumont-sur-Oise after a race- prosecution, after having escaped a first arrest. Pending the last medical analysis requested from Belgian doctors and expected for January 2021, the examining magistrates have ordered new investigations into the past of this man and the gendarmes, we learned on Friday.
"A gendarme indicates that in previous years, Adama Traoré would have committed violence on his person on several occasions. The question is first to verify this information," said Yassine Bouzrou, lawyer for the Traoré family, in Europe. 1.
A family request
These new investigations respond to a request from the family. In this context, the investigators will sift through the previous procedures concerning Adama Traore, in order to find those in which the gendarmes who arrested him four years ago had already intervened. Objective: establish whether or not there was a dispute between them. The three examining magistrates also asked to join to the investigation the administrative files of the three gendarmes, as well as their criminal records.
For Me Yassine Bouzrou, it will then be "wondering if this gendarme in question did not take advantage of this arrest, in the absence of witnesses and videos, of this 'closed session', to take revenge."
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A walk in tribute to Adama Traoré planned
"It is a plausible hypothesis, which would in any case make it possible to understand. It is not a motive but in any case an explanation, and that would make it possible to understand why there was this unleashing of violence ", continues the lawyer. "Because I remind you that there was a ventral tackle which lasted about nine minutes, it's enormous. If this litigation really existed, it could help to understand why these gendarmes, that day, demonstrated 'unprecedented violence in calling out to Adama Traore. "
On the other hand, the investigating judges in charge of the investigation refused to relinquish the General Inspection of the national gendarmerie of the investigation, as requested by Me Yassine Bouzrou. The organization therefore remains in charge of the investigations and in particular the search for new witnesses who could have attended the first arrest, shortly before the ventral plating. They have also put aside for the time being the possibility of a reconstruction of the facts.
A march and an "Adama festival" in memory of the young man are planned for this Saturday in Beaumont-sur-Oise, co-organized for the first time by his relatives and environmental activists. The demonstration in memory of this young black man will result from the joint and unprecedented appeal of the Adama Committee and Alternatiba, one of the main organizations of the climate movement.