Two men suspected of being involved in the murder of Kawtar, a 17-year-old girl who was a collateral victim in July 2021 of the war between gangs for the control of drug trafficking in the Marseille region, were indicted on Thursday.
Aged 22 and 21, they were indicted on charges of “complicity in murder and attempted murder by an organized gang”, as well as “participation in a criminal association with a view to preparing crimes”, a indicated the Marseille prosecutor's office, confirming initial information from Provence.
One of them was placed in pre-trial detention and the other under judicial supervision.
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They were questioned and taken into custody with two other people on Monday and Tuesday, more than two and a half years after the events.
All were already “detained for other causes”, said prosecutor Nicolas Bessone in a press release.
Kawtar had “no connection with drug trafficking”
On the evening of July 8, 2021, in Septèmes-les-Vallons, north of Marseille, the three occupants of a car, a couple and a 17-year-old girl, were the target of shots from two weapons.
Kawtar, “without any connection with drug trafficking” and only taken on board by the couple “while she wanted to go out to celebrate her baccalaureate”, had been fatally injured by the shots.
The couple escaped without serious injuries.
According to investigators, the 21-year-old man, present in the front of the vehicle, had forced a detour in order to go to a meeting arranged so that he could collect a sum of money whose debtor was one of his knowledge.
According to investigators, this homicide took place as part of the conflict between the “drug plans” of the Bassens and La Paternelle cities, in the impoverished northern districts of the Marseille city.
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Long at the heart of a deadly conflict between rival gangs, until the end of 2023, the Paternal has experienced a respite in terms of violence for several weeks after the drying up of its deal points, among the most lucrative in the country, which could bring in several thousand euros per day for traffickers.
Kawtar's tragic fate caused great emotion at the time, the young girl being one of the first collateral victims of drug trafficking which is plaguing France's second city.
In 2023, among the 49 “narchomicides” in Marseille, four affected collateral victims, including three women.