French police accused of killing migrant worker
Following the death of Nahel. M., killed by a policeman in Nanterre, police and firefighters intervene on rue du Général Leclerc to extinguish a fire started by angry residents, June 28, 2023. MICHAEL ZUMSTEIN / VU’ FOR LE MONDE The family of a Mauritanian man who died in custody last week has accused officers of killing him in the latest such allegation of police brutality. The Paris prosecutor's office said the police had launched an internal probe, but family said they want an independent investigating magistrate on the case. El Hacen Diarra, 35, encountered police late Wednesday as he was drinking a coffee outside the migrant dorms where he lived, his older brother Ibrahima said on Sunday, January 18. "He had come to France to earn a living, now he's gone forever," he told hundreds of supporters at a memorial, after his sibling died in custody in the middle of the night on Wednesday. A video filmed by neighbors, which has been shared on social media, shows a policeman punching what appears to be a man on the ground as another officer stands by and watches. The family has filed a legal complaint, accusing security forces of "intentional violence that led to a death," their lawyer Yassine Bouzrou told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday. "Witnesses saw a pool of blood at the site of the arrest," he said. The prosecutor's office said officers had approached Diarra after "seeing him roll a cannabis joint." But he refused a body search and they proceeded to arrest him, it said, citing the police's version of events. He "fell to the ground, dragging two police officers down with him on two occasions," it added. "One officer said he used a taser, including on his ankle," it said. He was taken into custody over resisting arrest, as well as being "in possession of forged administrative documents and a brown substance resembling cannabis." Police requested "his transfer to hospital due to the wound on his eyebrow," but as he was waiting on a bench at the police station, "he was seen to pass out," it said. A police officer, then firefighters who arrived at 23:45, tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead at 00:20, the prosecutor's office said. Partner service Learn French with Gymglish Thanks to a daily lesson, an original story and a personalized correction, in 15 minutes per day. Try for free Help us improve Le Monde in English Dear reader, We’d love to hear your thoughts on Le Monde in English! Take this quick survey to help us improve it for you. Take the survey Newsletter LE MONDE IN ENGLISH Sign up to receive our daily selection of "Le Monde" articles translated into English. Sign up New Le Monde’s app Get the most out of your experience: download the app to enjoy Le Monde in English anywhere, anytime Download Newsletter M International Sign up to get the best of M le Magazine du Monde twice a month, straight to your inbox. Sign up now Police brutality cases in France rarely make it to criminal court. Prosecutors have demanded a police officer be tried over the 2023 killing of a teenager at a traffic stop, in a case that sparked nationwide protests. A court is to rule in March whether he will face trial in a criminal court over the killing of 17-year-old Nahel M. In 2024, a judge gave suspended jail sentences to three officers who inflicted irreversible rectal injuries to a Black man during a stop-and-search in 2017. Le Monde with AFP
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