Rally in memory of Adama Traoré: legal proceedings opened against his sister Assa and police custody for his brother Youssouf

The police headquarters had banned the undeclared Parisian gathering scheduled for Saturday, because “presenting risks of disturbing public order”. He still held on.

The sister of Adama Traoré, a figure in the fight against police violence, had declared that she would be present “Saturday at 3 p.m. Place de la République”, after the ban on the annual march, planned for Persan and Beaumont-sur- Oise in memory of his brother who died shortly after his arrest by the gendarmes. This announcement was quickly relayed by left-wing activists and deputies from France Insoumise, but Assa Traoré did not, however, directly call on his supporters to join her.

A security cordon was erected around the statue of the Republic, allowing protesters to leave but not to return. According to the Prefecture of Police, all supporters who arrive at Place de la République to participate in the rally organized by Assa Traoré are systematically checked, fined and ousted.

Several elected officials from Nupes are present alongside the sister of Adama Traoré, place de la République, in Paris. Among them, the EELV deputy Sandrine Rousseau, the LFI deputy Éric Coquerel or the LFI deputy Mathilde Panot.

The movement departs boulevard de Magenta, while traffic was not stopped there. Several people in cars are wedged between the demonstrators.

The police headquarters had banned this undeclared Parisian gathering, because “presenting a risk of disturbing public order”. She recalled the “tense context” and the “five consecutive nights” of urban violence after the death of Nahel, 17, killed by a police officer during a road check on June 27 in Nanterre.

“No one can forbid us to march, to defend our democracy, our freedom and I will continue to say: justice for Adama my brother who died on his birthday,” she chanted.

“We were going to march this year, for the seventh year, to demand truth and justice for Adama (…). We have always marched calmly, in an organized way”, she added, in front of hundreds demonstrators and certain left-wing political figures, including Mathilde Panot, LFI deputy, and Eric Coquerel. “We want to hide our dead, we want to hide police violence”, denounced Assa Traoré again.

“We have always demonstrated in peace. They throw oil on the fire. We have always marched to denounce police impunity,” said Assa Traoré, present on the spot. Surrounded by a swarm of reporters and applauded by dozens of people, Assa Traoré speaks on the sidelines of her visit to the rally banned by the Paris police headquarters.

Jérôme Legavre, LFI deputy in the twelfth district of Seine-Saint-Denis interviewed by Le Figaro, came to demonstrate in the Place de la République despite the ban to denounce “the liberticidal escalation of the government”: “This government has decided to repress all those who step up to denounce this violence, from the repression unleashed after 49.3 to the death of Nahel. This is the reason why I came despite the ban”.

Louis Boyard, LFI deputy for the third constituency of Val-de-Marne, is also present at the demonstration “This march has existed for 7 years, why is it prohibited? It’s incomprehensible, people are asking for justice and truth. Does the President of the Republic want to add fuel to the fire? he declares.

Arrests took place on Saturday, July 8, on the sidelines of the march organized by the collective “Truth for Adama”, Place de la République in Paris.

Youssouf Traoré, a member of the family, was arrested by the police during a tough arrest. He was then taken to the hospital, before being placed in police custody for “violence against a person holding public authority” and “rebellion”, said the Paris prosecutor’s office. Youssouf Traoré is suspected of having injured a police commissioner in the eye during the demonstration.

Throughout France, “citizen marches” against police violence have taken place in several other cities in France.

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