While several excerpts from the hearings of the policeman who killed the young Nahel on June 27 in Nanterre appeared this morning in the press, his hearing was held on Thursday July 6. The investigative chamber of the Versailles Court of Appeal has decided to keep this police biker in custody, indicted for intentional homicide and imprisoned last Thursday.
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The investigating chamber of the Versailles Court of Appeal has made its decision: cin accordance with the requisitions of the public prosecutor’s office, Florian M., the police officer who shot Nahel in Nanterre during a traffic check, will be kept in pre-trial detention, as a source familiar with the matter told AFP.
The Nanterre prosecutor had demanded the detention ” with regard to the facts and the need to preserve the investigations “. Incarcerated in the prison of Health in Paris, where he will remain, Florian M. appeared by videoconference during the hearing, following a request for release from his lawyer, Me Laurent-Franck Liénard. “ For him “, his stay in prison is ” totally hopeless “, reacted the lawyer at the microphone of BFMTV.
In this case, his indictment for intentional homicide was already exceptional: the biker from Nanterre is only the 2nd official to be prosecuted for these facts.
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The version of the facts according to Florian M.
Florian M. shared his story and his version of the facts. The 38-year-old brigadier pointed out immediately that this day, it is his 9th day of work in a row. It all starts when, together with his teammate, they notice ” a Mercedes whose engine was roaring and driving in the bus lane”. The two police officers then chase the car; first attempt to stop him, to no avail.
In its notes, the prosecution states that according to the surveillance video, during its journey, the rental car ” almost hit a cyclist and forced a pedestrian to take cover. The two bikers ended up finding the car, stuck in traffic, near Nelson-Mandela Square. Florian M. and his teammate approached, weapons in hand. The rest of the scene was filmed.
Why then did he shoot? The brigadier claims to have felt cornered and to have feared that the car, restarting, would drag his colleague. But ” he didn’t want to aim for the upper body “, he specifies. According to the autopsy, the bullet passed through the windshield before lodging in Nahel’s chest.
Before the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), Florian M. denied having uttered the sentence ” you’ll take a bullet in the head “, according to an account of his statements in police custody cited by The Parisian. The policeman claimed to have yelled at Nahel to cut off the ignition and repeatedly hit the windshield of the car “ to attract the driver’s attention “.
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In general, pre-trial detention is required to prevent the actors in a case from communicating with each other or being pressured. The other criterion often cited is the risk of disturbing public order. Undoubtedly one of the motivations of the Versailles Court of Appeal, when France has just experienced several days of urban violence.
(And with AFP)