There were nearly 500. In the calm on Sunday, in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), several people gathered at the call of Nahel’s mother, a few days after the release of the police officer responsible for the fatal shooting of the teenager in June. “He killed my son,” said Nahel’s mother, in tears. “In the morning, when I wake up, I no longer have his voice, I no longer have my son’s face, I no longer have my son’s smile,” she added, dressed in a white “Justice for Nahel” t-shirt.
“No justice, no peace,” the demonstrators proclaimed between different speeches, noted an AFP journalist. With their faces masked, friends of Nahel spoke out to criticize the release of the police officer, decided on Wednesday. “Don’t forget Nahel! », Launched one of the teenager’s friends into the microphone. “It’s always the same people who die from refusing to comply,” one of them also denounced, while others brandished signs on which was written “The police kill”. The gathering then dispersed peacefully around 5 p.m. Three people were arrested on the sidelines of the demonstration, said the police headquarters.
A disturbing release
Justice on Wednesday ordered the release of the 38-year-old police officer who opened fire and killed Nahel, 17, at the wheel of his vehicle on June 27, during a road check in the streets of Nanterre. The death of the teenager triggered more than a week of violence, clashes with the police and looting in many cities in France, the most serious riots to have occurred in the country since 2005. The police officer remains indicted for murder and was placed under judicial supervision.
On Sunday, Shaïnez, 16, came with her mother to protest against this decision. They live in the Pablo Picasso estate and are neighbors of Nahel’s mother. “We are forced to fight, to come for him,” said Shaïnez, revolted by the “incomprehensible” release of the police officer. “Nahel, we will not see him again, and the police officer will be with his family for the holidays, it’s injustice,” she told AFP.
“Murder is murder, whatever the status”
Imane, a 19-year-old student at the Nanterre faculty who did not wish to give her last name, confides that she feels “disgust” after the release of the police officer. She adds that she moved to “remind people that a murder is a murder, whatever the status” of the accused.
Several demonstrators also carried signs saying “435-1, the law kills”, a reference to the article of the Internal Security Code (CSI) which governs the conditions under which police officers and gendarmes can use their weapons. Present at the rally, LFI deputy Thomas Portes repeated that his group wanted the repeal of this article of law adopted in 2017.