To avoid “excesses and disturbances to public order”, the prefecture of Val-d’Oise “considers” banning the march scheduled for Saturday for the seventh anniversary of the death of Adama Traoré, a young black man who died during a an arrest in 2016 and erected as an emblem of police violence, in the context of riots following the death of Nahel, she announced this Thursday in a tweet.
In their letter addressed to the organizers of the march, the “Truth for Adama” committee, the state services are concerned about the arrival of “disruptive elements” at this demonstration, which Nahel’s mother could also attend. . “This march is likely to stir up tensions and generate serious disturbances to public order,” wrote the prefect Philippe Court, giving the organizers until Friday noon to make their observations.
“A desire to censor freedom of peaceful expression”
On July 19, 2016, this 24-year-old black man died in the courtyard of the Persan barracks, about thirty kilometers north of Paris, shortly after his arrest by the gendarmes after a chase. Led by his sister Assa Traoré, the collective “Vérité pour Adama” holds a peaceful march every year in July in Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise to demand the indictment of the four gendarmes implicated, and more broadly to denounce police violence. .
The death of Adama Traoré had given rise to several nights of riots across the neighboring towns of Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise. In recent days, the town hall of Persan has burned down during the urban violence.
Each year, the procession of the commemorative march for Adama Traoré wanders through these two cities in a militant but uneventful atmosphere, ending with a rap concert in a park. Many unions, organizations and political parties are expected this year. “It’s a political decision to prevent there being a word from working-class neighborhoods on the death of Nahel and Adama”, reacted to AFP Youcef Brakni, right arm of Assa Traoré, castigating ” a desire to censor freedom of peaceful expression”.