Judicial information was opened Thursday six days after the suspicious death of a 40-year-old dock worker in Le Havre, announced Friday the prosecution of the Interregional Specialized Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Lille, responsible for the file.
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The judicial investigation was opened "in particular of the head of arrest, kidnapping, forcible confinement or arbitrary detention followed by death in an organized gang ", according to a press release from the prosecution.
There is however no question of torture, contrary to what several police sources had affirmed on June 12, confirming information from the local press. " It was the press that spoke of torture, not the prosecution, " the Lille prosecutor's office told AFP on Friday.
The dock worker " did not have a cloth soaked in petrol in his mouth and the medical reports do not indicate a broken eye or a torn ear ," according to the press release.
The victim had been indicted in July 2018 of the head of a criminal association with a view to preparing crimes or misdemeanors, " in connection with the trafficking of narcotic drugs raging in the port area, " said the prosecution. The dock worker had been left free under judicial supervision. The facts date from 2017 and the case is still under investigation. The national federation of ports and docks of the CGT called to demonstrate Saturday to pay tribute to the docker.
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