He is one of the actors and witnesses of the drama that took place on July 19, 2016, in Beaumont-sur-Oise (Val-d'Oise) but curiously it has never been identified by the courts. This man intervened to release Adama Traoré when the young man of 24 years had been arrested in a city park after a race of about 250 m by a first crew of plainclothes gendarmes. The rest, we know it. Adama Traoré was eventually arrested by other gendarmes in an apartment where he took refuge before dying two hours later in the Persan barracks. Today, the civil party claims the hearing of this witness whom it considers as crucial.
In a letter of 11 June addressed to the judges that we were able to consult, Me Yassine Bouzrou, the lawyer for the family of the victim, requests that “investigations be carried out insofar as this testimony is particularly important to understand the circumstances of the first arrest of Adama Traoré which took place a few minutes before the second which caused his death ”.
The man in question is of European type, between 25 and 30 years old, is about 1m75 tall and has straight dark brown hair, according to the description of the gendarme who took care of transporting Adama Traore on foot after his first arrest. and who let him run away because of the intervention of this third party.
No connection with DNA
“At one point, an individual, who was on the spot, walked up to us asking me what I was doing, and telling me that Adama was his friend, his brother […] tells about minutes the non-commissioned officer. I indicated to this person that I did not know, that I was a policeman and to let me do my work ”. The official continued: "The individual continued to come to us to come into contact. As he got too close to us, I punched him in the face to stop him because I sensed that he wanted to free Traore. ”
VIDEO. Assa Traoré: "If it takes every week, we will go out on the street"
According to the version of the gendarme, the three men then fell to the ground. “I let go of Traore, who fled while I was fighting with the man who wanted to prevent me from chasing him. As soon as Traoré was out of my reach, the individual also fled. ” When the non-commissioned officer joined his colleagues after Adama Traore's escape, he bore traces of blood, which he believed were those of the individual with whom he fought. These were analyzed and concluded that it was neither the blood of Adama Traore, nor that of the gendarme. Furthermore, this analysis did not allow a reconciliation with the DNA of a person identified in the national DNA file.
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"Apart from these DNA analyzes which could have led to the identification of the person having intervened and having fought with Mr. V [the gendarme], no investigation has been carried out", denounces Me Bouzrou in his letter to the judges.
The mystery of partial stripping
However, according to the family's lawyer, this witness could shed light on justice on important points, in particular on "the mystery of the partial stripping of Adama Traore". Indeed, the victim will be found with a single handcuff, or according to the two gendarmes who carried out the arrest, they had been correctly attached to both hands. "Indeed, we can ask the question of how he managed to remove the handcuff so quickly," acknowledges PV the non-commissioned officer, who can not find an explanation for this fact. Since the beginning of the case the civil party doubts the version of this gendarme and could have another interpretation. One thing is certain: the handcuffs were the subject of an expertise which did not highlight any anomaly or failure.
"How to explain that the General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie, (the service responsible for the investigation) failed in four years to identify a central witness to the case despite the many surveillance cameras in the city and despite the identification events available to the investigators, ”questions Mr. Bouzrou. The family lawyer last week asked for the divestiture of the IGGN for the benefit of the Crim 'of the Paris judicial police. However, the judges have just refused this divestiture on the grounds that the gendarmes' investigation had ended, no commission being in progress. "I am amazed, given the gray areas and extremely important witnesses who have never been heard," protested the lawyer.
On June 3, the judges announced their intention to hear two witnesses - according to the Paris prosecutor's office, they informed the civil party and the defense on April 10, 2019, but these acts were delayed. These people have never been heard before by the magistrates: the man with whom Adama took refuge and a woman, an eyewitness who partially contradicts the account of the gendarme who assisted helplessly at the escape of Adama Traoré. The non-commissioned officer affirms that the young woman saw the intervention of the unidentified witness at the origin of the flight of Adama Traoré, but she claims the opposite…