Adama Traoré died in 2016 after his arrest – AFP
The Bobigny court on Thursday released a police officer who had publicly described as “rapist” and “convict” Adama Traoré, who died in 2016 after his arrest by gendarmes in Val-d’Oise. In law, only legal heirs are legitimate to bring legal action for insult or defamation in memory of the dead, the court immediately recalled in its decision read at the hearing.
But the policeman “does not address [pas] to any heir to Adama Traoré ”and could not assume that his words were filmed and would be broadcast, he said, specifying that the documents transmitted by the family of the young man who died at the age of 24 were“ insufficient ”to establish their bond of heirs. The court also ruled that “as questionable” are the remarks made by this 45-year-old civil servant with regard to ethics, “the intention to harm is not established”.
A fine required
Present on the spot, Assa Traoré, emblem of the fight against police violence since the death of his brother, did not wish to comment on this decision immediately. At the hearing of April 15, the prosecutor Loïc Pageot questioned the admissibility of the complaint for these same reasons. He had, however, requested a fine of 1,000 euros suspended against the police, accusing him of not having “not respected his duty of confidentiality”.
On July 22, 2017, this official stationed on the Ile-de-France rail network was attacked by half a dozen activists from the “Justice for Adama” collective while he was checking a passenger traveling without a ticket. One of the activists, who was going to a white march in Beaumont-sur-Oise in memory of the young man, then asked him if he knew why she was on board. He replied in the affirmative, qualifying Adama Traoré as a “convict” and a “rapist”. The scene, filmed, was broadcast on social networks.
His former co-detainee compensated after rape complaint
In May 2016, a former fellow inmate filed a complaint against Adama Traoré for sexual assault. The investigation was closed without follow-up to the death of the young man and therefore did not rule on these accusations. In March 2020, the Commission for Compensation for Victims of Offenses (CIVI) of Pontoise compensated this former fellow inmate for the damage suffered.
In its decision, however, it did not address the question of the author of the damage which it has repaired. His family has always denied these accusations and brought charges against those who relayed them publicly.