France to rule on reopening probe into black man’s death in custody

PARIS – France’s top court is to rule on Feb 11 on the dismissal of an investigation into the 2016 death of a young black man in police custody that sparked protests.

The Court of Cassation’s decision comes nearly a decade after the death of 24-year-old Adama Traore following his arrest in the Paris suburb of Beaumont-sur-Oise, a fatality that triggered national outcry over police brutality and racism.

Mr Traore’s family is contesting a 2024 appeal court ruling confirming a prior decision to drop the case, after an investigation led to no charges against the military policemen – or gendarmes – involved and therefore no case in court.

Three gendarmes pursued the young man on July 19, 2016, when temperatures reached nearly 37 deg C, pinning him down in an apartment, after which he told officers he was “having trouble breathing”.

He then fainted during the journey to a gendarmerie station, where he died.

His older sister Assa Traore, who has been leading protests since his death, has said she hopes the court will overturn the dismissal.

“We continue to demand that the police officers be charged and brought to trial,” she wrote on social media on Feb 9.

If the Court of Cassation rules in favour of the family, it could overturn the dismissal and reopen the investigation.

A decision is expected at 2pm local time.

‘Probably’ not fatal

In 2023, French investigating magistrates dropped the case against the three gendarmes, in a ruling that was upheld on appeal in 2024.

They had been tasked with probing whether the three arresting officers used disproportionate force against Mr Traore during a police operation targeting his brother, Mr Bagui.

According to the magistrates, Mr Traore’s death was caused by heatstroke that “probably” would not have been fatal without the officers’ intervention – though it concluded their actions were within legal bounds.

His family however accuses the gendarmes of failing to help the young man, who was found by rescue services unconscious and handcuffed behind his back.

In their appeal, Mr Traore’s family criticised the justice system for not carrying out a reconstitution of events as part of the investigation.

But prosecutors have requested that the appeal be dismissed, and the decision not to replay the arrest was justified, a judicial source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Internal investigations

Activists have repeatedly accused French police of violence and racism, but few cases make it to criminal court in France as most are dealt with internally.

In January, several thousand people protested in Paris over the death in custody of a Mauritanian immigrant worker, Mr El Hacen Diarra, 35, who died after passing out at a police station following his violent arrest.

Paris police launched an internal investigation after video filmed by neighbours, shared on social media, showed a policeman punching what appears to be a man on the ground as another officer stands by and watches.

In 2024, a judge gave suspended jail sentences to three officers who inflicted irreversible rectal injuries to a black man, Mr Theo Luhaka, during a stop-and-search in 2017.

Prosecutors have also called for a police officer to be tried over the 2023 killing of a teenager at a traffic stop, in a case that sparked nationwide protests.

A court is to rule in March whether he will face a criminal trial over the killing of 17-year-old Nahel M.

Europe’s top rights court in June condemned France over its police discriminating against a young man during identity checks, in the first such ruling against the country over alleged racial profiling. AFP