The Alehan association organized a funeral march from La Joliette to the Palais de Justice in Marseille in memory of the victims of the settling of scores this Wednesday, June 15. About 100 people, relatives of victims, marched carrying dummy coffins. They express the feeling that business in poor neighborhoods is neglected : the association is therefore asking for justice.
The carnage continues and there is no criminal response. Karima Meziene, criminal lawyer at the Marseille Bar
Karima Mezien has her hands full of cardboard coffins. She arranges them on the Place de la Joliette a little before the start of the funeral march. “The objective is to show that there is real carnage, the carnage continues and there is no criminal response“, explains this criminal lawyer at the Marseille bar. She is also a relative of a victim, on her white t-shirt is inscribed “Zahir murdered”. It was her brother, he was killed in 2016. By her side, Riam and Karima wear a t-shirt in memory of Rayanne, 14, murdered in 2021. They march to the Palais de Justice to denounce the impunity of those who kidnapped their loved ones. Families will never get justice, because governments don’t empower the judiciary or the police to do the job properly“, continues Karima. According to her, “Half of the cases remain unsolved: _for 300 homicides a year, 150 families who are set aside_“
_My son, he was not a drug dealer, he was a sports educator
Habib Boutouba is at the head of the procession. He brandishes the photo of his son, stabbed on December 14, 2021 in Perpignan. He approached the Alehan association to act against the injustice that strikes bereaved families. “_We are talking about settling scores but me, my son, he was not a dealer, he was a sports educator”, insists the father of the family. He calls for tougher sentences. : “the worst part of all this is that the murderers have the law with them. They benefit from sentence reductions, we parents suffer the double penalty. I am convinced that if we do not toughen the sentences, it will continue like this“. Her son’s killer is still at large.
– Chloe Arzouni
Long and complex investigations
The judicial police respond to the demands of the demonstrators recalling that the rate of elucidation of narco-banditry cases in the Bouches-du-Rhône is higher than the national average. It is 50% over the last ten years, against 35% according to the boss of the judicial police. “But what is not wrong is that these are very long, complex surveys. On average, elucidation takes a year”explained to AFP the director of the southern zone of the judicial police Éric Arella.