France: in Marseille, five policemen of the Raid in custody following the death of a man on the sidelines of the riots

Five police officers of the Raid, an elite unit, were placed in custody as part of an investigation into the death of a 27-year-old man, Mohamed B., on the sidelines of the riots in early July in Marseille, said Tuesday, August 8 the prosecutor's office.

The city of Marseille was very affected, in early July, by the violence that followed the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old boy shot dead during a refusal to comply, in Nanterre, on June 27, 2023. © Clément Mahoudeau / AFP

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The Marseille prosecutor's office confirms the placement in custody Tuesday, August 8, 2023 of five police officers from the Marseille branch of the Raid. These police custody intervene on rogatory commission of the investigating judge in the context of the judicial investigation opened on July 4, "said the prosecutor's office in a statement. Several other police officers were also summoned on Tuesday (August 8th) to be heard as witnesses, the source added.

On the night of 1 to 2 July, while the center of Marseille was plagued by damage and looting following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old boy killed in Nanterre by a police officer during a road check on June 27, Mohamed Bendriss, married, father of a child and whose widow is expecting a second child, had lost his life after feeling unwell while riding a scooter. It was during his autopsy that was spotted, on his chest, the trace of what could be the impact of a defensive ball launcher (LBD) shot. On July 4, a judicial investigation was opened by the Marseille prosecutor's office for "fatal blows with a weapon". It had been entrusted to the judicial police and the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).

Another case of police violence

This is a new investigation in Marseille involving law enforcement officers who could be suspected of police violence, after the case of the beating of a young man, Hedi, part of whose skull had to be amputated, also on the sidelines of the riots.

On July 21, four Marseille police officers were indicted for the violence against Hedi on the charge of "intentional violence resulting in a total incapacity for work (ITT) greater than eight days" aggravated by three circumstances in that they were "committed in assembly, with the use or threat of a weapon and by a person holding public authority in the exercise of his duties. Of these four officials, three had been placed under judicial control and one placed in pre-trial detention, where he is still staying, after the rejection of his appeal in early August by the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence.

A third case concerning a complaint against police officers is still under investigation in Marseille: Abdelkarim Y., 22, says he is the victim of a LBD shot by police officers of the Raid on the night of June 30 to July 1. Cousin of Mohamed Bendriss, he lost the use of his eye. The Public Prosecutor's Office has opened a preliminary investigation on charges of "intentional violence in a group resulting in mutilation or permanent disability by a person holding public authority and with a weapon".

" READ ALSO France: "After the riots, the feeling of injustice remains because nothing is settled"

(With AFP

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