Franceinfo was able to consult, Wednesday, November 9, the conclusions of a tenth expert report on the death of Adama Traoré on July 19, 2016 in Beaumont-sur-Oise (Val-d’Oise) after a muscular arrest. Speaking of a “heatstroke” aggravated by the immobilization of the young man by the gendarmes, they conclude that a combination of factors which, separately, would probably not have caused the death of the fugitive but which, together, did in fact cause it.
Experts believe it is “very probable” that Adama Traoré’s temperature was higher than 37.3° C, because the temperature was not taken in the most precise way, “rectal level”and therefore has “presumably [été] under estimated”. In addition, a witness affirms that the young man had breathing difficulties during his escape, after having escaped a first attempt at arrest.
That “further reinforces the hypothesis of heat stroke” caused by the race of the young man, conclude the experts, “the physical constraint maneuvers took place when the person concerned was in a state of weakness and hypoxia”.
This new expert report, dated August 22, 2022, only confirms, even reinforces, the conclusions of the first report by the same Belgian experts, delivered on January 27, 2021. They concluded therein that, “without the application of these coercive manoeuvres, one can think that Mr. Traoré would not have presented the dramatic evolution observed afterwards” for a single “heatstroke”and that the immobilization of which it was the object “probably should not have had a fatal outcome, regardless of other circumstances, in a healthy individual”. They also refer to Adama Traoré’s pre-existing pathologies – sarcoidosis in particular – as “aggravating factors”.
They wrote that “As related, the immobilization procedure in an apartment does not seem particularly aggressive but is not particularly cautious either, especially since the subject seemed a moment before, according to a witness, already in a difficult situation respiratory“. They wanted to remind that such an immobilization “may lead to unexpected death” at the house of “a very restless individual”.
While the police claim not to have seen the state in which Adama Traoré was before arresting him, the experts estimated that“one can legitimately entertain a serious doubt“on the condition they say they observed and thought that the fugitive “must already be in a state of marked impairment”.
The relatives of Adama Traoré welcome the conclusions of this tenth expertise. Contacted by franceinfo, their lawyer, Me Yassine Bouzrou, believes that it goes in their direction. “Without the violent arrest of the gendarmes, Adama Traoré would not have died. In other words, the gendarmes caused the death of Adama Traoré”, he says. For him, “the indictment and the referral to a court are necessary in law”.
But in the camp opposite, on the contrary, it is believed that the expertise clears the gendarmes. “These conclusions confirm that the death is not linked to the gesture of the gendarmes”, claims to franceinfo Me Rodolphe Bosselut, who represents two of the three soldiers placed under the status of assisted witnesses in this case. According to him, “Experts believe exercise-induced heat stroke is the leading cause of death” by Adama Traore.