“If the bullet that killed my daughter had not been fired by a policeman, would the investigation move faster?” Asks Rayana’s mother

It was almost a year ago. On June 4, 2022, in the popular district of Barbès, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, a motorist twice refused to stop when police on bicycles tried to control him. The officials end up opening fire. The passenger received a fatal bullet in the head: her name was Rayana, she was 21 years old and had only met the driver a few hours earlier, in the evening. Today, his family regrets that the investigation entrusted to the IGPN (General Inspectorate of the National Police) on the responsibilities of the police is almost at a standstill.

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Judicial information has been opened for intentional violence by a person holding public authority resulting in death without the intention of giving it. The police officers emerged free from police custody three days after the events, last June. They were not then subjected to any judicial control, nor indicted. They had explained that they had acted within the legal framework in the face of a man who was aiming at them with his car, and therefore was dangerous for them and passers-by. A disputed version.

“She went to meetings of Emmanuel Macron”

Eleven months later, these three officials have still not been heard by the investigating judge. The results of the ballistic expertise are still not in the file. Rayana’s family fears oblivion and impunity. “Since the death of my child, I have been waiting for his legal case to move forward, but it is not moving forward. No summons from anyone despite the promise of the judges”deplores, bitter, Noura, 62, the inconsolable and very worthy mother of Rayana. “I demand justice in a country of justice. My daughter also had confidence in the institutions of our country. Shortly before her death, she went to meetings of Emmanuel Macron. She was a young girl who interested in political things, who loved his country and was proud to be French, proud to be linked to this country of law.

“In our family, we respect the police, but the police officers that my child met that morning, I do not understand them. My daughter was a passenger, had done nothing, and instead of protecting her, they shot on her. It is this reality that hurts me so much”

Noura, mother of Rayana

at franceinfo

Stifling a sob, she confesses to struggle “not to lose hope”. Staring into space, Noura then wonders: “If the bullet that killed my daughter had been fired by a civilian and not a policeman, would the work of the investigation progress more quickly? Would justice put more resources into it?” The three police officers were not subject to any ban on exercising their profession, nor on carrying a weapon. This also makes Noura ponder who, constantly, reimagines the day when she lost her only daughter who was still living at home in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. His daughter whose criminal record was clean.

Rayana’s memory “soiled” on TV sets

The sexagenarian is like annoyed to have to specify it, but she wants to “to answer”, she said, to “those who rushed to television sets at the time of the tragedy and smeared her memory by talking about her as a delinquent”. It was in the middle of the legislative campaign. Politicians, but above all police union representatives, have taken up the defense of police officers in police custody in the media, sometimes with little nuance and necessarily incomplete knowledge of the case.“I live here in Paris. So, of course, I tell myself that if it happens, I can meet them, that the person who fatally shot my daughter may still be on the ground, confides the mother who continues to work as a chef in a restaurant in the capital and promises to fight “for the truth and the memory of Rayana”.

“Often, I think about it, I wonder if he or she is a dad or a mom himself. If he or she is aware of having taken my child’s life. If he or she works in uniform, carry his weapon”

Noura, mayor of Rayana

at franceinfo

Noura would have liked the three police officers who fired on the car in which her daughter was to be suspended, no longer have the right to carry a weapon, the time of the investigation. The IGPN, the police force has – in addition to the judicial inquiry led by the judge – opened an administrative inquiry following these shots fired on a refusal to comply. It is from the administrative investigation that the proposals for internal police sanctions most often arise. But in a case like this, this second investigation is put on hold, while the first establishes the materiality of the facts.

“The police were not interviewed”

Rayana’s family lawyer, Me Florian Lastelle, shares the same questions, the same anger as his clients: “Testimonies, videos must be seriously examined in this file. The police officers were not auditioned and therefore were not confronted with the incriminating elements which could largely justify indictments. It is incomprehensible with the months when police officers make mistakes, they must be noticed. And I have the feeling – and I hope it is only my feeling – that today, in this case, we have police officers who protect other police officers”.

“Remember that we are talking about a young, totally innocent passenger who was shot in a lethal zone by a policeman located at a distance estimated between one meter and one meter fifty”

Maître Florian Lastelle, lawyer for the Rayana family

at franceinfo

Master Lastelle wishes to point out that it all started with a check for lack of seat belt. According to him, the driver refused to stop and in this he was at fault, but the lawyer adds: “This driver did not attempt to run into the police and nothing can justify explaining the burst of nine bullets fired in broad daylight on a Saturday in an area frequented by families in particular”.

The idea that the young Rayana can only be considered as “collateral damage” in this case is unbearable to Me Lastelle who wants to believe that the three police officers will one day be tried and sentenced. He even hopes for a trial at the assizes.

The lawyer for the three civil servants, Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, whom we contacted, did not wish to answer our questions.