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The Sun
7 days ago
- General
- The Sun
French policeman to go on trial over 2023 killing of teen that sparked riots
PARIS: A French policeman who shot and killed a teenager at point-blank range in 2023 in a Paris suburb, sparking days of riots, is to go on trial charged with murder, a court said Tuesday. The trial of the officer, who has been charged with the murder of Nahel Merzouk, 17, could take place in the second or third quarter of 2026, the court in the Nanterre suburb, where the killing took place, said in a joint statement with investigating magistrates. The announcement coincides with rising tensions in France after attacks against Muslims in recent weeks, as well as the burning of a Koran in the southeast of the country. The officer, identified as Florian M., was released from custody in November 2023 after five months in detention. Mobile phone footage of an officer shooting Nahel inside a car during a traffic stop on a busy street went viral. The scene sparked anger and protests that degenerated into rioting and led to scenes of devastation nationwide. The police initially maintained that Nahel had driven his car at the officer. But this was contradicted by the video, which showed two officers standing at a stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at its driver. 'Nothing shows Florian M. was authorised in the circumstances to use his weapon, in violation of the principles of proportionality and absolute necessity,' according to the written order issued by two investigating magistrates for the trial, which was seen by AFP. 'Law applied' However legal proceedings were dropped against the accused officer's colleague who was present during the incident. He had been investigated as an 'assisted witness', which in the French system is one step before being charged. 'This order for a trial is both disappointing and not surprising,' said Laurent-Franck Lienard, Florian M.'s lawyer, explaining that the investigating judge was always likely to follow the prosecution's push for a trial. The lawyer told AFP he would lodge an appeal against the order. 'We maintain that the shooting was legitimate,' he said. Eric Henry, of the Alliance police union which has vigorously defended the actions of the police officer, told CNews TV the announcement of the trial sent 'a disastrous signal to our colleague, to the police world'. But Frank Berton, a lawyer for Nahel's mother Mounia Merzouk, said he was satisfied with the decision to move to a trial. 'We are just seeing the law being applied,' he said. 'Now all that remains is to convince the court.' The move to try the officer over the death of Nahel, who was of north African origin, comes as new tensions have emerged over racism and security in France. A man who had posted racist videos shot dead his Tunisian neighbour and badly wounded a Turkish man in the south of France at the weekend, and a Malian man was stabbed to death in a mosque in April. 'Racism is not France' Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is taking an increasingly hard line on immigration issues, has faced accusations of not bring firm enough against such crimes and even fuelling a racist climate. But he said on Tuesday that the killing of Tunisian Hichem Miraoui in Puget-sur-Argens was 'clearly a racist crime,' 'probably also anti-Muslim,' and 'perhaps also a terrorist crime.' 'Racism is not France,' Retailleau told the National Assembly. According to Le Parisien newspaper, the suspect in that killing, who is under arrest, said he 'swore allegiance to the French flag' and called on the French to 'shoot' people of foreign origin in one of his videos posted on social media. Anti-terrorism prosecutors have taken over the investigation into the case, the first such racist attack linked to the far right to be dealt with as 'terrorism' since their office was set up in 2019. Meanwhile, a person stole a Koran on the night of Sunday to Monday from a mosque near the southeastern French city of Lyon and set it on fire, religious leaders and a police source said Tuesday.
The Sun
7 days ago
- General
- The Sun
French Cop Faces Trial for Teen Killing Amid Racial Tension
PARIS: A French policeman who shot and killed a teenager at point-blank range in 2023 in a Paris suburb, sparking days of riots, is to go on trial charged with murder, a court said Tuesday. The trial of the officer, who has been charged with the murder of Nahel Merzouk, 17, could take place in the second or third quarter of 2026, the court in the Nanterre suburb, where the killing took place, said in a joint statement with investigating magistrates. The announcement coincides with rising tensions in France after attacks against Muslims in recent weeks, as well as the burning of a Koran in the southeast of the country. The officer, identified as Florian M., was released from custody in November 2023 after five months in detention. Mobile phone footage of an officer shooting Nahel inside a car during a traffic stop on a busy street went viral. The scene sparked anger and protests that degenerated into rioting and led to scenes of devastation nationwide. The police initially maintained that Nahel had driven his car at the officer. But this was contradicted by the video, which showed two officers standing at a stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at its driver. 'Nothing shows Florian M. was authorised in the circumstances to use his weapon, in violation of the principles of proportionality and absolute necessity,' according to the written order issued by two investigating magistrates for the trial, which was seen by AFP. 'Law applied' However legal proceedings were dropped against the accused officer's colleague who was present during the incident. He had been investigated as an 'assisted witness', which in the French system is one step before being charged. 'This order for a trial is both disappointing and not surprising,' said Laurent-Franck Lienard, Florian M.'s lawyer, explaining that the investigating judge was always likely to follow the prosecution's push for a trial. The lawyer told AFP he would lodge an appeal against the order. 'We maintain that the shooting was legitimate,' he said. Eric Henry, of the Alliance police union which has vigorously defended the actions of the police officer, told CNews TV the announcement of the trial sent 'a disastrous signal to our colleague, to the police world'. But Frank Berton, a lawyer for Nahel's mother Mounia Merzouk, said he was satisfied with the decision to move to a trial. 'We are just seeing the law being applied,' he said. 'Now all that remains is to convince the court.' The move to try the officer over the death of Nahel, who was of north African origin, comes as new tensions have emerged over racism and security in France. A man who had posted racist videos shot dead his Tunisian neighbour and badly wounded a Turkish man in the south of France at the weekend, and a Malian man was stabbed to death in a mosque in April. 'Racism is not France' Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is taking an increasingly hard line on immigration issues, has faced accusations of not bring firm enough against such crimes and even fuelling a racist climate. But he said on Tuesday that the killing of Tunisian Hichem Miraoui in Puget-sur-Argens was 'clearly a racist crime,' 'probably also anti-Muslim,' and 'perhaps also a terrorist crime.' 'Racism is not France,' Retailleau told the National Assembly. According to Le Parisien newspaper, the suspect in that killing, who is under arrest, said he 'swore allegiance to the French flag' and called on the French to 'shoot' people of foreign origin in one of his videos posted on social media. Anti-terrorism prosecutors have taken over the investigation into the case, the first such racist attack linked to the far right to be dealt with as 'terrorism' since their office was set up in 2019. Meanwhile, a person stole a Koran on the night of Sunday to Monday from a mosque near the southeastern French city of Lyon and set it on fire, religious leaders and a police source said Tuesday.
MTV Lebanon
16-04-2025
- MTV Lebanon
Cars set on fire at French prison in second wave of attacks
French jails were hit by a second wave of attacks overnight, including three cars set alight at Tarascon prison in southern France, the Justice Minister and a prison workers' union said on Wednesday, as authorities sought to identify those responsible. "Cars were set on fire very early this morning," Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told CNews TV and Europe 1 radio, speaking of the attack in Tarascon. The hall of a building in Meaux, east of Paris, where a prison guard works, was also set on fire overnight, as was the car of a prison guard who works in Aix-Luynes, in southern France, the FO Justice union said on X. In Tarascon, three cars burned in the prison's parking lot, it said. Earlier in the week, at least six prisons guarding some of the nation's most hardened crime kingpins came under gun and arson attack. Darmanin, who said on Tuesday that the attacks were acts of terrorism, on Wednesday said he could exclude no scenario, but that people linked to drug trafficking might be trying to frighten authorities and those who work in prisons. "There are clearly people who try to destabilise the state by intimidating it," he told CNews and Europe 1. "We won't back down," he said. "If the state backs down, then there is nothing left, the French wouldn't be protected anymore." The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) has taken charge of the probe into the attacks, which also targeted the National School of Prison Administration. The PNAT said officers from France's domestic intelligence agency DGSI would assist in the investigation. A security source said there is no evidence as yet of foreign interference. Years of record South American cocaine imports to Europe have transformed local drug markets, sparking a wave of violence. Despite record cocaine seizures in France, gangs are reaping windfalls as they expand from traditional power bases in cities such as Marseille into smaller towns unused to drug violence. Graffiti letters "DDPF" - apparently an acronym for "French prisoners' rights" - were tagged on many of the attack sites, which some police sources said could be the work of unknown left-wing militant groups. But Darmanin said attacks, which included shooting at prison doors with AK-47 automatic rifles, sounded more like organised crime. "We are taking very firm measures that are leading drug traffickers to react," he said. "Some countries have given in to narcobanditism ... we're not at this stage, because we are taking very firm measures, but we're not that far."
Dubai Eye
16-04-2025
- Dubai Eye
Cars set on fire at French prison in second wave of attacks
French jails were hit by a second wave of attacks overnight, including three cars set alight at Tarascon prison in southern France, the Justice Minister and a prison workers' union said on Wednesday, as authorities sought to identify those responsible. "Cars were set on fire very early this morning," Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told CNews TV and Europe 1 radio, speaking of the attack in Tarascon. The hall of a building in Meaux, east of Paris, where a prison guard works, was also set on fire overnight, as was the car of a prison guard who works in Aix-Luynes, in southern France, the FO Justice union said on X. In Tarascon, three cars burned in the prison's parking lot, it said. Earlier in the week, at least six prisons guarding some of the nation's most hardened crime kingpins came under gun and arson attack. Darmanin, who said on Tuesday that the attacks were acts of terrorism, on Wednesday said he could exclude no scenario. "There are clearly people who try to destabilise the state by intimidating it," he told CNews and Europe 1. "We won't back down," he said. "If the state backs down, then there is nothing left, the French wouldn't be protected anymore." The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) has taken charge of the probe into the attacks, which also targeted the National School of Prison Administration. The PNAT said officers from France's domestic intelligence agency DGSI would assist in the investigation. A security source said there is no evidence as yet of foreign interference. Years of record South American cocaine imports to Europe have transformed local drug markets, sparking a wave of violence. Despite record cocaine seizures in France, gangs are reaping windfalls as they expand from traditional power bases in cities such as Marseille into smaller towns unused to drug violence. Graffiti letters "DDPF" - apparently an acronym for "French prisoners' rights" - were tagged on many of the attack sites, which some police sources said could be the work of unknown left-wing militant groups. But Darmanin said attacks, which included shooting at prison doors with AK-47 automatic rifles, sounded more like organised crime.
Sky News
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
New attacks on French prisons are attempt to 'destabilise the state', says minister
French jails have been hit by a second wave of attacks in what ministers believe are attempts to "destabilise the state" after government action to tackle drug trafficking. Three cars were set on fire in a parking lot used by prison guards at Tarascon jail, near Avignon in southern France, on Tuesday night. Officials said the car of a prison guard who works at a jail in Aix-Luynes, north of Marseille, was also set on fire. In a further attack, the hall of a building used by prison staff was set on fire in Meaux, east of Paris. It comes after the previous night saw several French prisons attacked, including unknown assailants firing automatic weapons at a jail in the southern city of Toulon. Vehicles were also burned outside other facilities across the country and staff were threatened. Authorities said at least six prisons guarding some of the nation's most hardened crime kingpins had come under gun and arson attack. France's Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin has led efforts to toughen prison security and target gangsters who run their empires from behind bars. He said the motive behind the attacks was still unclear, but he added people linked to drug trafficking might be trying to frighten the authorities and those who work in prisons. "There are clearly people who try to destabilise the state by intimidating it," he told CNews TV and Europe 1 radio. "We won't back down. If the state backs down, then there is nothing left, the French wouldn't be protected anymore." Mr Darmanin said the attacks had included shooting rounds at prison doors with AK-47 automatic rifles - and these incidents had the hallmarks of organised crime. "We are taking very firm measures that are leading drug traffickers to react," he said. 0:30 A security source said there has been no evidence found of foreign interference. Years of record South American cocaine imports to Europe have transformed local drug markets, sparking a wave of violence.
