France is ablaze these days over the killing of Nahel, a 17-year-old, on Thursday in Nanterre by a policeman at a checkpoint.
The banlieues – the urban suburbs surrounding large cities in France, with a population often of second-generation French citizens, poverty and social hardship – have exploded, as they already did in 2005.
Nahel’s Death: What Happened
On 27 June, at 8.30 am, two policemen on motorbikes stopped a car for a check in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. There are three boys. The driver, Nahel, 17, died shortly after being shot by one of the policemen.
From Marseille to Paris. The sick suburbs where the state is weak, anger becomes violence by Tahar Ben Jelloun 01 July 2023
Protests France: the lie of the police
In the first version provided by the police, the agents claim to have ordered Nahel to stop, he would have refused to try to run them over and the agents would have shot him in self-defense.
The lawyer for Nahel’s family: “A policeman who kills must be convicted, this doesn’t happen in France” from our correspondent Benedetta Perilli 01 July 2023
The video on social media
A few hours later a video on social media dismantles the version: we see the boy’s car, an agent pointing a gun at him and shouting: “They will shoot you in the head”. The car starts slowly and then comes to a halt, crashing into a pole.
From Marseille to Paris. The sick suburbs where the state is weak, anger becomes violence by Tahar Ben Jelloun 01 July 2023 (afp)
The investigation and the arrest of the policeman
On 29 June, the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for voluntary homicide against the 38-year-old policeman who allegedly shot Nahel. The man was placed in temporary custody
France, protests and violence
Nahel’s mother Mouna organizes a white march. But all over France there are also violent clashes, looting and tensions. In four nights there are over a thousand arrests, with officers injured and buildings damaged.
Protests in France, Kalashnikovs and spoils from looting: this is how the revolt of the very young is “live” on social media by our correspondent Benedetta Perilli 01 July 2023