Four days after the death of 17-year-old Nahel during a police check near Paris, friends and relatives said goodbye to him on Saturday. started around noon according to the daily newspaper Le Parisien a funeral service in the mosque in Nanterre near Paris. The family had wished that no press should attend the funeral service and the subsequent burial. The youth’s death sparked riots across the country.
Le Parisien reported that around noon a white coffin was laid out in the mosque. A security zone was set up around the building, to which only selected people had access. The newspaper Le Figaro wrote that hundreds of people attended the funeral services.
The 17-year-old was stopped at the wheel of a car by a motorcycle patrol in Nanterre on Tuesday. When the young man suddenly drove off, a fatal shot fell from a police officer’s service weapon. The officials had initially stated that the young people had wanted to run over them. It was only when video images of the incident, verified by the media, spread on social networks that they moved away from this portrayal and the alleged intention to kill the young person. The police officer blamed for his death has been taken into custody. A formal investigation into manslaughter was initiated against him.
The incident triggered a wave of violence in France. For the fourth night in a row, there were riots from Friday to Saturday with hundreds of arrests, looting and arson attacks. More than 1,300 people were arrested, and the Interior Ministry counted 2,560 fires on public roads. According to the information, 45,000 police officers were on duty nationwide during the night.