Marseille Riots: Man Blinded, Cousin Killed in Alleged Police Violence

"I went towards the police, and I turned to go down another street, and there they shot me," says Abdelkarim, quoted by Libération. "I was face to face with them, I saw someone targeting me, but I didn’t think he was going to shoot me. They were dressed all in black." These events took place on the night of June 30 to July 1. The victim claims to have been hit by an LBD shot, reports BFM. According to his explanations, he no longer remembers what happened afterwards: "I may have lost consciousness."

The 22-year-old man was admitted to a hospital where he underwent three operations. He could lose the use of his eye, according to Libération. Following this event, he filed a complaint which led to the opening of an investigation for "intentional violence in a group resulting in permanent mutilation or disability by a person holding public authority and with a weapon" conducted by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN).

His cousin Mohamed, 27, did not fare the same fate. He died on the night of July 1 to 2 in Marseille. He would have been killed by the police. According to the first elements of the investigation, Mohamed died after receiving a violent shock to the chest caused by the firing of a probable flash-ball type projectile, the public prosecutor’s office had indicated. The investigation was entrusted to the judicial police and the IGPN. "It’s pitiful to kill people who have families. He could have put him in custody, talked to him, moved him if he was bothering," regretted on July 5 the victim’s wife, the father of a child. A complaint has been filed to demand justice for Mohamed.