Last month two police officers who stood trial for failing to prevent the deaths by electrocution of two teenagers in a Paris suburb in 2005 were acquitted. The court case, which took place nearly ten years after the events that sparked widespread rioting across France, highlighted how little has changed in that time to improve the often tense relations between the police and the populations in deprived urban areas, and notably youths from racial minorities. There have been no wide-ranging inquiries in France to identify the root causes of the tensions, while a report on the issue, which offers some practical if modest solutions, has been languishing on the current interior minister's desk for nearly a year. Louise Fessard considers why there has been so startlingly little progress in improving police-community relations over the last, lost decade.
The arrest and conviction of protesters following pro-Palestinian and pro-Gaza demonstrations in Paris have led to accusations of judicial double standards. Critics claim that young non-white Muslims have been singled out for punishment by the police and courts. Here Mediapart highlights the case of a young man called Mohamed who was convicted after intervening when his younger brother was stopped by police officers following a pro-Gaza protest on July 13th. Though his sentence was reduced on appeal, Mohamed still insists he did nothing wrong and says he was only arrested because he is a Muslim who supports the Palestinian cause. Thomas Saint-Cricq reports.
