2005

No fewer than 18 government ministers turned out in force in one of France's troubled suburbs to show state is on their side after 2005 riots.

Residents of deprived areas in France that erupted into violence in 2005 are still waiting for things to improve and some fear unrest could return.

The two officers were accused of failing to help two boys who fled from them into a power substation near Paris in 2005, sparking weeks of riots.

The two officers are accused of failing to save two boys fleeing them who were electrocuted in a power substation, prompting nationwide riots.

On October 27th, 2005, two police officers chased three teenagers into an electricity sub-station in a Parisian suburb where two of them died after being electrocuted. Their deaths provoked major riots around Paris and across France. Nearly eight years later a French court has ruled that the two officers should stand trial, on charges of failing to provide assistance to persons in danger. Mediapart's legal affairs correspondent Michel Deléan reports on the complex background to this high-profile case.