In uniform were football teammates, teachers, students, and classmates. Many wore white T-shirts bearing the inscribing “Justice For Marwane” on Saturday. This was the day after the funeral for the 15-year old teenager.
Marwane was shot by gunfire from a vehicle last Sunday at 10 p.m. in Arles’ Griffeuille district. The police had intervened for shots the weekend before. According to police, the fire was started by drug trafficking.
“Marwane was a child who had nothing to do, he had good behavior at school. There is also the headmaster of his college. He’s a student who loved football and was a goalkeeper at the ACA Club in Arles. It’s terrible,” says Bouhadjar Benamar (62), a close friend of the family. The sixty-year old participant in the walking said that traffic is increasing in their neighborhood. He was afraid for his children and worried about what would happen to Marwane.
The procession left Arles Place Charles-de-Gaulle to reach the centre of Arles, where it was greeted by a banner that read: “Never again… All together for Marwane.”
His mother, recalling Marwane’s school and football career, said that “they took him away from us”. His father added, “We just want our children to be educated with respect, as everyone else,”
The crowd cheered her name and waved white roses for over a minute, waving them in their faces. Patrick de Carolis, the mayor of Montreal, had earlier this week declared a three-day mourning period: “It is a whole city that has been shocked, angry, and bereaved.”
The investigation is being handled by the Marseille judicial police. The car used to take the photos was found in Saint-Martin de Crau (20 km from Arles).
16 people were shot to death in Bouches-du Rhone since the start of the year. This was against the background of drug trafficking. Although Marseille is the largest city in France, most traffic is concentrated there, other cities within the department are also being affected, including Arles (53,000 residents).
