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Five police detained over death of man during France riots

Five French officers were arrested on Tuesday over the death of a 27-year-old man in the southern city of Marseille in early July during nationwide rioting, prosecutors said.

Published: 8 August 2023 12:33 CEST
Five police detained over death of man during France riots
French riot police vehicles in Marseille on July 1, 2023. Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP

France was convulsed in late June and early July by violent rioting over the killing outside Paris on June 27th of a teenager by a policeman during a traffic check.

The riots were met by a forceful police response. Hundreds of people were arrested and hundreds of police officers were
wounded.

But there has never been any confirmation of a member of the security forces or a protester losing their life during the events.

The five police officers, all members of the elite RAID unit, were detained in Marseille for questioning in the probe over the death of Mohamed Bendriss, prosecutors said.

Several civilians and police are also giving evidence as witnesses, the prosecutors added.

The incident took place during the night of July 1st-2nd during violent protests in the centre of Marseille sparked by the death of Nahel M., 17, who was shot dead by a police officer on June 27th during a traffic check.

Bendriss, a married father of one whose widow is now expecting a second child, lost his life after feeling unwell while riding a scooter.

His autopsy showed traces on his chest of what could be the impact of a shot from a blast ball – known in French as an LBD and commonly used by the country’s police.

The investigation is the latest controversy to target Marseille police.

Earlier this summer, a 22-year-old man called Hedi had to have part of his skull removed after being beaten up and fired on with an LBD on July 21st by a group of men suspected to be police officers.

Four Marseille police officers have been charged over the incident.

Three have been released under judicial supervision.

The fourth has been remanded in custody for the duration of the investigation. His detention caused huge controversy within the French police.

Officers across the country went on sick leave en masse as a sign of protest but a court last week rejected the appeal against his detention.

The officer admitted in court to firing a blast ball round, reversing an earlier denial, but said he did not see anybody injured. His lawyer added that there was no proof it was his round that had wounded Hedi.

The powerful police union, Alliance, said the ruling was “incomprehensible and very unfair”.

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NEW CALEDONIA

Fresh violence rocks French overseas territories

French authorities on Thursday grappled with a new spike in violence in the country's overseas territories with security forces killing two men in New Caledonia and officials ordering a curfew after rioting in Martinique.

Published: 19 September 2024 08:49 CEST
Fresh violence rocks French overseas territories

The fresh trouble comes at a sensitive time for France where the new prime minister Michel Barnier is struggling to form a government following snap parliamentary elections and has warned of a “very serious” financial situation.

During an overnight security operation in New Caledonia, two men were killed south of the capital Noumea, the public prosecutor said Thursday, taking the death toll to 13 after months of unrest in the French Pacific territory.

Violence broke out in mid-May over Paris’s plan for voting reforms that indigenous Kanak people fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of winning independence.

While unrest in the South Pacific territory has ebbed since mid-July, an AFP journalist witnessed new clashes erupt between French police and civilians in Saint Louis, a heartland of the independence movement just south of Noumea.

On Thursday, public prosecutor Yves Dupas said security forces on an observation mission fired two shots after being “directly threatened by a group of armed individuals”.

The first “hit a man, aged 30, positioned as a lone gunman, in the right side of the abdomen,” Dupas said in a statement.

“The second shot hit a man, aged 29, in the chest.”

‘We are not terrorists’

Police were looking for around a dozen people suspected of involvement in attacks on security forces.

“We’re not terrorists, we’re not in a state of war,” said one mother in the village where the security operation was taking place.

France sent thousands of troops and police to the archipelago, which is home to around 270,000 people and located nearly 17,000 kilometres from Paris.

In violence not seen since the near-civil war of the 1980s, hundreds of people were injured and the damage was estimated at around €2.2 billion.

The electoral change — which requires altering the French constitution — has effectively been in limbo since President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament for new elections that in July produced a lower house with no clear majority.

The road to Saint-Louis in the south of the archipelago’s main island Grande Terre is closed. For the 1,200 inhabitants of Saint-Louis, the only way in or out is by foot after presenting an ID at checkpoints.

Only emergency services and ambulances can otherwise cross into the village.

Almost all other roadblocks across New Caledonia have been lifted, but a curfew between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am remains in place.

Authorities are also under pressure in the French Caribbean island of Martinique, home to around 350,000 people.

Officials ordered a curfew in several districts of Fort-de-France, the island’s main city, and next-door Lamentin, after violent cost-of-living protests.

The curfew, ordered on Wednesday evening, runs between 9:00 pm to 5:00 am and will remain in force until at least September 23.

A McDonald’s restaurant was set on fire this week.

The riots follow protests that began in early September over rising prices.

The prefect of Martinique, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, said authorities have made 15 arrests.

Eleven police officers were injured by gunfire, he said, adding that three rioters also sustained injuries.

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