New accusations of police violence in Marseille. Abdelkarim Y. filed a complaint against X for "voluntary violence resulting in mutilation or permanent disability, committed in a meeting, by a person holding public authority, with the use of a weapon" and for "attempted voluntary homicide" after being hit by a LBD shot, Le Figaro learned from his lawyer, Me Arié Alimi.
As revealed by Mediapart and Libération, Abdelkarim Y., 22, was going to a friend's house in the city center on the night of June 30 to July 1, in the middle of the night of riots following the death of Nahel, the 17-year-old boy killed by police gunfire. Urban violence in which he claims not to have taken part.
The Raid and the DGPN implicated
According to his version of events, he was then targeted by a defensive ball launcher (LBD) by a police crew. "I went to the police and turned to another street, and there they shot me. I was face to face with them, I saw that someone was targeting me, but I did not think he was going to shoot me," Abdelkarim Y. told Libération. Severely wounded in the left eye, he had to undergo two surgeries before being able to return home, deeply traumatized, says his lawyer. "I was told it would be a miracle if I regained my sight," the 22-year-old said.
In Abdelkarim's recollections, the officials who targeted him were "dressed all in black," wearing black helmets and accompanied by dark-colored armored vehicles. A description that could correspond to the agents of the Raid deployed that night in Marseille, according to the complainant. As such, Me Arié Alimi indicates to the Figaro to have written an additional complaint for "complicity by instigation" against the boss of the Raid, Jean-Baptiste Dulion, and the director general of the national police, Frédéric Veaux. It must be filed this Tuesday with the Marseille prosecutor's office, which has already opened an investigation to identify the suspects and determine the context of this LBD shooting.
Deadly LBD shooting
The day after Abdelkarim's left eye was wounded, his family was mourned by the death of his first cousin, Mohamed, 27, who was also hit by a LBD in the middle of the street, on the Cours Lieutaud in Marseille. "Mohamed died as a result of the shooting of a LBD launcher in the chest causing him to go into cardiac arrest," according to the complaint written by the family's lawyer. With the Marseille branch of the League of Human Rights, Me Arié Alimi launched a citizen neighborhood survey. The volunteers consult shopkeepers and residents around the scene of the incident to find the perpetrators of the shots that hit Mohamed. At this stage, no police officers have been implicated in the investigations against Abdelkarim and Mohamed.
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These new accusations of police violence come as four police officers from the same city were indicted last week, and one of them placed in pre-trial detention. They are suspected of having beaten a young man on the sidelines of the riots in early July. This pre-trial detention aroused the anger of the police, supported by the Director General of Police (DGPN), Frédéric Veaux. The magistrates' unions considered "extremely serious" the statements of the latter who said he wanted the release of the police officer of the BAC of Marseille.