a year after Nahel’s death, the investigation still ongoing and anger persists

5 mins

On the morning of June 27, the police chased a Mercedes behaving erratically, driven by Nahel, 17, without a license. The car ends up stuck in traffic. A video filmed by a witness shows two police officers on the side of the vehicle, guns pointed at the driver, then one shoots as the car drives away. Nahel is killed by a bullet to the chest. This video contradicts the first police version, according to which the officers were positioned in front of the vehicle.

Indicted for intentional homicide on June 29, the perpetrator of the shooting was, a rare thing for a police officer, placed in pre-trial detention for five months. Several expert opinions were requested, in particular to define to what extent Nahel, who bears marks of blows on his arms, could have been hit by the police. An audio analysis of the video aimed at clarifying what the officers shouted at the teenager would not have yielded conclusive results.

Last May, a reconstruction was organized, in particular to establish whether the police officers were in danger at the time of the shooting. For Nahel’s mother’s advice, “ the police officer was not in danger » ; « objectively, he was not crushed, but he could sense that he could have been “, on the contrary concluded the police officer’s lawyer.

Read alsoDeath of Nahel: the police officer responsible for the fatal shooting kept in pre-trial detention

Difficult return to calm

The same evening of the tragedy, incidents broke out in Nanterre where Nahel lived and spread to other towns in the Paris suburbs. Mortar fire, damage, clashes… On the morning of June 28, there were 40 vehicles set on fire and around thirty arrests. Violence spreads across the province. The indictment of the police officer, who was responsible for the shooting, for intentional homicide, accompanied by his placement in pre-trial detention, does not, however, restore calm. Town halls burned, elected officials targeted, stores looted: 45,000 police officers were mobilized. All regions including Overseas are affected, incidents also break out in Switzerland and Belgium.

On July 3, after eight days of violence, two people were killed and more than 1,000 injured, 2,500 buildings damaged and 672 municipalities affected, twice as many as during the 2005 riots, according to a parliamentary inquiry. It will highlight a profile of rioters who are 60% first-time offenders, very young, with a third of minors and with motivations ” protean “.

Less than 10% of those arrested justified their participation by the death of Nahel or a desire to contest the action of the police, point out the elected officials, who note the existence of a “ anger “, ” fueled by a feeling of relegation ”, the spread of which was facilitated by social networks.

In total, around forty investigations were entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police, the IGPN, for police violence during the riots. Investigations which are progressing very slowly, explains lawyer Arié Alimi, who defends several of the victims.

Read alsoRiots in France after the death of Nahel: the cost of the damage estimated at one billion euros

One year after Nahel’s death, anger still strong in the town of Asnières-sur-Seine

In Asnières-sur-Seine, a few kilometers north of Nanterre, latent anger exploded at the time of Nahel’s death, in particular to express their strong feeling of abandonment. A year later, this anger in the northern neighborhoods is still as strong.

In the Mourinoux district, the vestiges of urban revolts are still visible. Zouhair Ech Chetouani, a figure in the northern districts of Asnières, talks about the administrative court, burned down on June 29, 2023. But not only that. “ We still have burned roads, the Post Office is still not rehabilitated with fire doors “, he explains.

For the man who calls himself Zo, Nahel’s death was the straw that broke the camel’s back of suburban anger. “ When we talk to young people, when we ask them where it comes from, they don’t even talk about Nahel, they mainly talk to us about the lack of structures in the neighborhoods, the lack of consultation, the lack of activities “, he said. “ The only response that was given by the town hall was a police response, and that is a problem that we have difficulty explaining, and then making elected officials understand. »

A lack of dialogue which plunges the neighborhood into an impasse. “ We can’t come and tell people all the time: “We know what you need”, without living with them, without knowing their problems, without knowing their youth either. And that’s something that makes the divide even more visible and even less clodable. », he points out.

For Zouhair Ech Chetouani, since June 2023, nothing has changed in Asnières. He then fears the next revolts which he imagines will be even more violent.