The investigative chamber of the Versailles Court of Appeal decided on Thursday, July 6, to keep in pre-trial detention the police officer responsible for the fatal shooting of Nahel M. in Nanterre on June 27 during a roadside check, reported to Agence France-Presse (AFP) a source familiar with the matter.
Police motorcyclist Florian M. was indicted for intentional homicide and imprisoned on June 29. Incarcerated in the prison of Health, in Paris, he appeared by videoconference during the hearing of the chamber of instruction.
He was represented by Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, who had appealed the detention of his client. “For him, it’s totally heartbreaking. He takes this news, it is nightmarish for him. He remains hopeful, he will keep fighting, but will he still have the energy? “, reacted Me Liénard at the microphone of BFM-TV. “It’s a tsunami in his life, he’s been hit like someone who’s had major trauma, he’s still in a state of amazement,” the lawyer also said.
The Attorney General of the Versailles Court of Appeal also rejected a request for expatriation filed by Me Yassine Bouzrou, lawyer for the family of Nahel M., which aimed to transfer the file, instructed in Nanterre, to another jurisdiction.
The phrase “you’re going to take a bullet to the head” denied
Before the general inspectorate of the national police, Florian M. denied having uttered the sentence “you’re going to take a bullet in the head”, according to an account of his statements in police custody cited by Le Parisien. He said he yelled at Nahel to turn off the ignition and repeatedly hit the windshield of the car “in order to get the driver’s attention”.
Florian M. justified his shooting by arguing that he feared that the teenager would “embark” his colleague while restarting.
The death of young Nahel M., 17, on June 27, during a traffic check, was the trigger for several nights of urban violence in the Paris region and in the rest of the country. They were marked by scenes of looting, the firing of fireworks at public buildings and fires.
