the lawyer of the police officer in question expects the reconstruction “so that we know who is telling the truth and who is saying false”

A reconstruction of the facts leading to the death of young Nahel on June 27, 2023 is organized on Sunday in Nanterre. For the lawyer of the police officer who fired, this “fundamental act of investigation” must allow “to see things as they really happened”.

“It is a fundamental act of education”, estimates on franceinfo Sunday May 5 Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, lawyer for the police officer who shot Nahel, before the reconstruction of the facts in Nanterre. The 17-year-old young man was killed by police shooting on June 27, 2023, in the commune of Hauts-de-Seine. This triggered riots in many cities in France in the following weeks.

The two police officers involved and the two passengers in the car driven by Nahel will be present. The teenager’s mother was also invited as a civil party. “I expect people to be decent, to know how to keep their cool”explains Me Laurent-Franck Liénard. “The conductors in this are the investigating judges”they are the ones “who will tell us where to place ourselves, who will tell us which versions we will play”continues the lawyer who calls for letting “justice works, quite simply”.

“I need to see this wall, to see the slope of the road, to see things as they really happened.”

Me Liénard

at franceinfo

Me Laurent-Franck Liénard wishes “Let us put ourselves in the place of this police officer, place ourselves exactly where he was in relation to this car and the wall behind him and let us feel things” and wait “that we compare people’s versions, that we know who is telling the truth, who is saying false, who could hear what, who could see what.”

The policeman wanted to “just hurt Nahel, forbid him from leaving again”

The lawyer claims that his client “felt he was truly in a situation that required the application of a shot”. According to him, at the time of the events, the police officer “just wants to hurt Nahel, forbid him from putting his foot on the accelerator and leaving again”he intends to carry out a “fichant shot, that is to say downwards”. The police officer is suspected of having told Nahel that he was going to shoot him “a ball in the head”but his lawyer assures that he “did not say those words.”

According to Me Laurent-Franck Liénard, the agent “did not lose his composure at all”, “he remained extremely calm” And “knows what he’s really doing.” “It’s almost chilling, he’s so calm in his actions”he adds.

“My client is very threatened”he is “the target of many threats and hatred”, says the lawyer. This is why he will wear a balaclava and a bulletproof vest during the reenactment. “It is very important that it is hidden” because “some people would like to use violence, elements that would prohibit legal action from taking place”according to him.