Family of Moroccan Student Killed by French Police Seeks Answers, Demands Autopsy

The family of Zakaria Mennouni wants to know the cause of the death of the young student and "obtain justice" for the deceased. In a statement dated April 26, 2022, the Blois prosecutor had only provided details on the circumstances of the young man’s death. He would have died following "a hemorrhagic shock linked to the abdominal and cervical lesions [...]; however, it is not possible to distinguish among the first two series of wounds, those that may have caused death. [...] He was armed with a knife with which he injured himself before threatening the law enforcement officers," reports the regional daily La Nouvelle République.

"Not being able to determine the cause of Zakaria Mennouni’s death, when he received three bullets in the stomach and one in the chest, is a sham," says Mourad Elajouti, the family’s lawyer. To date, "the family has not received any report" of the autopsy carried out in France, he assures. Hence the request addressed to the Attorney General of the King near the Court of Appeal of Casablanca to proceed with a new autopsy of the deceased. "When the autopsy is carried out, its report will be used to open an investigation, to demand the identity of the French police officers and to file a complaint on the basis of Article 710 of the Code of Criminal Procedure."

Before initiating this procedure, "the family has initiated a procedure in France by filing a complaint against X for voluntary homicide". "That said, an autopsy report is necessary to activate an investigation in this direction. Hence the interest of this procedure in Morocco, knowing that Article 710 of the Moroccan Code of Criminal Procedure allows the prosecution of perpetrators of crimes of foreign nationality outside Moroccan territory when the victim is Moroccan. And this, via a letter rogatory in order to request the extradition of the perpetrators of the crime."

Mourad Elajouti also believes that "the fact of not delivering the autopsy report after three months of waiting is an attempt to protect the police officers". And to conclude: "We also have the impression that this death is not taken seriously, because the deceased is not a French citizen. If it were not a foreigner, the reaction would have been different, particularly due to the increase in police brutality and violence in France in recent years".