Rights Defender Claire Hédon asked the Ministry of the Interior to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the police officers involved in the death in 2023 of young Nahel Merzouk, in particular the author of the fatal shooting which was “not absolutely necessary”.
Three years after the tragedy, the independent administrative authority made public on Friday the conclusions of its investigation into the death of the 17-year-old teenager for a refusal to comply, noting in particular the “ethical breach” of the police officer who shot him dead after a chase.
Nahel Merzouk was killed on June 27, 2023 in Nanterre by a bullet fired at close range during a road check. His death, which became a symbol of police violence, was the cause of several nights of riots across France.
According to the Defender of Rights, who had taken up the case automatically, the very fact of initiating a chase with her vehicle that day was a “decision which contravenes the instructions” in the matter at the time of the facts, which restricted them “to facts of a certain seriousness”.
In her 39-page decision, revealed by Le Monde, Claire Hédon then notes a series of “breaches” in particular of the rules of “obedience and discernment” on the part of the two police officers involved.
Use of a weapon that is neither “necessary” nor “proportionate”
Arriving at the Polish-registered Mercedes driven by Nahel Merzouk, one of the police officers, who leaned inside the passenger compartment with gun in hand, carried out actions “not in accordance with the technical safety and intervention actions taught”.
When the young man restarts his vehicle “at a reduced speed”, estimates the Defender of Rights on the basis of testimonies, videos and expert accident reports, this does not constitute “an imminent danger for the agents, who were not in the path” of the car.
“It thus considers that the use of a weapon was not absolutely necessary” nor “proportionate”, notes the independent authority. “In view of all the ethical breaches noted, it requests the Minister of the Interior to initiate disciplinary proceedings against each of the agents,” concludes the decision.
The legal outcome of the case also experienced yet another twist last week: the Court of Cassation, France’s highest judicial court, annulled the reclassification of the facts as violence for the police officer responsible for the shooting, reopening the way for a possible trial for the latter’s murder.
The case is therefore sent back to the Versailles Court of Appeal, which must rule again on the charge for which the police officer is dismissed. The Court of Cassation, however, validated last week the dismissal of the case for the second police officer present during the intervention. When questioned, the Interior Ministry did not react immediately.
