The family of Adama Traoré, 24, who died while in the custody of three gendarmes in the town of Beaumont-sur-Oise in July 2016, said they will appeal a decision by magistrates investigating the circumstances of his death to dismiss the case against the officers.
Lawyers for the family of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old black man who died shortly after his arrest by gendarmes in 2016, and whose sister has led a high-profile campaign for the officers to be brought to trial, have mounted a legal challenge against a ban by authorities on a march planned for Saturday in his memory.
A procession of around 15,000 people, according to official estimates, marched through central Paris on Saturday, along with several thousand in other cities and towns across France, protesting racism and police violence in the country and highliting the case of a black man who died in strikingly similar circumstances to Afro-American George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
This week has been marked by numerous demonstrations, both in the US and across the globe, in protest at police violence following the killing of George Floyd, the 46-year-old Afro-American who was suffocated to death by an officer in Minneapolis. In this op-ed article, Mediapart publishing editor Edwy Plenel argues why, when the police is gangrened by racism, it is because the powers in place, a ruling class and its elites, hold a silent hate of democracy, the people and equality – and that this applies as much to France as it does to the United States.
Protests around France continued on Thursday over alleged racist violence by police, prompted by a campaign by the family of Adama Traoré, a 24-year-old man of Malian origin, for a full investigation into his death in police custody allegedly from asphyxiation, and the outrage over the death in the US of George Floyd, 46, an Afro-American who was suffocated by a police officer during his arrest in Minneapolis.
The French government's spokeswoman called for calm on Wednesday after violent scenes at a demonstration by around 20,000 people on Tuesday evening against what they claim is a cover-up over the 2016 death of Adama Traoré, 24, who suffocated while he was pinned down by gendarmes during his arrest in July 2016, a case which the protesters likened to the killing in the US of George Floyd.
The death in custody of 24-year-old Adama Traoré after he was arrested by gendarmes near Paris on July 19th provoked violent disturbances among locals and anger from the young man's family. Prosecution authorities insisted that Traoré's death was due to a heart attack and a pre-existing infection. Yet autopsy reports suggest signs of “asphyxiation”. And Mediapart understands that key information about the circumstances of the young man's death have not yet been passed to a judge investigating the case. Adama Traoré's family is now considering legal action over the issue. Faïza Zerouala reports.
Cars were torched and public buildings attacked in a second night of violence in Paris suburb after 24-year-old died during transportation to gendarmerie station.
