Five Police Officers Detained in Probe of Marseille Riot Death

The investigating judge ordered the detention of the police officers concerned on Tuesday, the Marseille prosecutor’s office said in a statement relayed by L’Express, specifying that other police officers will also be heard as witnesses in this case. The prosecution had mentioned at the end of July the hypothesis that Mohamed Bendriss would have been killed by a Flash-Ball shot to the chest. The 27-year-old man, who was riding a scooter during the riots in Marseille, would have suddenly had a seizure to which he succumbed.

The autopsy of his body revealed the impact of a Flash-Ball shot, which led to the opening of a judicial investigation for fatal blows with a weapon on July 4. The investigation, entrusted to the judicial police and the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), made it possible to identify and prosecute the police officers involved.

The four police officers in custody, members of the anti-crime brigade, were indicted on July 21 for intentional violence resulting in total incapacity for work (ITT) of more than 8 days. The use or threat of a weapon by these police officers, depositaries of public authority, in the exercise of their functions, is considered an aggravating circumstance. Three of the accused had been placed under judicial supervision and the fourth, in pre-trial detention. The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal rejected his request for release in early August. In total, the IGPN has opened 31 investigations during the riots, according to police sources.