An investigation has been opened in France after death threats against the police officer who shot young Nahel, whose death on June 27 sparked riots in the country, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Friday.
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Relayed in particular on Twitter, these threats also targeted the policeman’s lawyer, Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, who told AFP that he had filed a complaint in Paris in his own name and on behalf of his client.
Me Laurent-Franck Liénard
AFP
The death of 17-year-old Nahel, killed at point-blank range during a roadside check in Nanterre, west of Paris, set the country ablaze, causing several consecutive nights of violence, burning cars or garbage cans, ransacking of public buildings and looting in many towns in France.
The 38-year-old police officer responsible for the shooting was charged with intentional homicide and imprisoned on June 29. His request for release was denied on Thursday.
His full name and town of residence were also published by a local newspaper in northern France, Oise Hebdo, angering Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and police unions.
Seized by the authorities, the local public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for the dissemination of “information making it possible to identify or locate a person holding public authority” for the purpose of exposing him or his family to a risk “of injury to person or property”.
Large-scale rioting and looting occurred for several consecutive nights across France, following Nahel’s death on June 17. In total, more than twelve thousand vehicles were burned. More than 2,508 buildings were set on fire or damaged, including 105 town halls and 168 schools.