Two years after the death of Zineb Redouane in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), an independent second opinion risks discrediting the already controversial investigation into the causes of the death of the octogenarian, who died on December 2, 2018, 24 hours after being hit by a tear gas grenade on the sidelines of a demonstration of yellow vests.
The investigations of Disclose and Forensic Architecture, specializing in 3D modeling of events, formally contradict the conclusions of the official expertise, which cleared the CRS at the origin of the shooting.
Conversely, the new expertise, produced from the ballistic report, but also from CCTV images, videos on social networks and a 3D modeling of the shooting scene, points to the responsibility of the shooter and his supervisor. .
Back to the facts.
On December 1, 2018, for Act III of the yellow vests, demonstrators march through the streets of downtown Marseille.
The atmosphere is very tense, the CRS are taken to task and multiply the shootings of tear gas.
On the fourth floor of her building, Zineb Redouane closes the shutters of her apartment when she is hit by a projectile.
The next day, the octogenarian died in the operating room of the Timone hospital.
The ballistic report, delivered on May 20, concluded that the grenade "hit the victim completely accidentally, during the upward projection of the projectile".
The weapon used by the official is a Cougar-type grenade launcher.
And according to the texts in force governing its use, tense shooting is strictly prohibited, so that people are not directly affected.
Clearly, the shot must follow a so-called bell-shaped parabolic trajectory.
However, the second opinion affirms that the shooting which reached the octogenarian is a tense shooting.
"The CRS cannot have forgotten this shot"
On the images, we see a CRS, remained behind, which raises its grenade launcher cannon.
At 7:04 p.m. and 57 seconds, he fired a shot.
The image by image analysis makes it possible to identify the trajectory of its grenade.
This is pulled in the direction of the octogenarian's apartment.
We then see the author of the shooting back on the sidewalk to pass a fire truck.
At 7:05 p.m. and 8 seconds, he looked up in the direction of his shot.
Twelve seconds later, we see the same policeman still looking in that direction.
"If it had been a bell-shot, why would this policeman look towards Zied Redouane's window twelve seconds after the shot?"
“Asks Me Yassine Bouzrou, the victim's family lawyer.
“The police say they don't know who fired, and to this day the shooter has still not identified himself.
Now we can see that the CRS cannot have forgotten this shot, which obviously worried him a lot ”.
Thanks to a detailed modeling of the places, the expertise of Disclose and Forensic Architecture claims to be able to position the shooter with a margin of error of two meters.
However, from the location of the shooter, and the adoption of a firing angle of between 30 and 45 degrees, the policeman necessarily directs his weapon towards one of the buildings directed in front of him, raises the expertise.
About ten windows are potentially in the path of his grenade.
"There is therefore a very high probability that the projectile will enter an apartment before exploding and dispersing gas in large quantities", observe the experts.
The thesis of a "voluntary shooting"
However, as the regulations indicate, it is important for the bearer of the Cougar weapon to assess the trajectory of the grenade and to consider the point of explosion or impact.
In fact, the projectile struck the upper part of Zined Redouane's body after 37 m.
"The independent second opinion clearly shows that it is a deliberate fire on the part of the CRS," concludes Yassine Bouzrou.
Zined Redouane was on the phone with his daughter at the time, as usual, she had put her device on speaker.
For us, she was targeted by the police officer because he thought she was filming the police violence.
"
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Since the beginning in this case, the legal pitfalls have accumulated: non-placement in police custody of the CRS during their hearings, absence of seizure of the five grenade launchers used that day, non-designation of the shooter by the police . Me Yassine Bouzrou obtained the change of scenery of the investigation in Lyon (Rhône) "in the interest of a good administration of justice". The magistrate who had been responsible for the start of the investigation before it was entrusted to a Marseille investigating judge on December 4, was present at the scene of the demonstration as part of his duties. But he forgot to say it ...
