Grieving family in France hurt by police officer's role in Olympic ceremony
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A 2021 photo shows Mr Issam El Khalfaoui - the father of 19-year-old police shooting victim Soheil El Khalfaoui - taking part in a demonstration in Marseille to seek justice for his son.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS - A French police officer who fatally shot a teenager of Tunisian heritage during a traffic stop in 2021 was among BMX riders who took part in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, to the distress of the deceased teenager’s family.
Romain Devassine, 26, shot 19-year-old Soheil El Khalfaoui as he tried to drive off during a traffic stop in Marseille on Aug 4, 2021.
For the past three years, the youngster’s family have been pressing for justice and a murder investigation by Marseille justice authorities is ongoing. So when Soheil’s aunt, Ms Samia El Khalfaoui, saw Officer Devassine on television as she watched the opening ceremony,
“I found it indecent, disrespectful. He was there, majestic on the stage in his Napoleon costume - it was as if he was mocking us,” she told Reuters.
Mr Devassine and the interior ministry did not respond to requests for comment on Mr Devassine’s role in the fatal shooting or his participation in the opening ceremony.
Soheil is one of more than 20 people who have been shot dead by French police since 2020, most of them Black or Arab men, according to a Reuters tally.
It was the fatal shooting by police of Nahel Merzouk sparked nationwide unrest
A police watchdog report seen by Reuters shows that in questioning, Mr Devassine acknowledged he shot the teenager, saying that he did so to save his colleague’s life.
No charges have been brought against Mr Devassine to date.
A French law introduced in 2017 allows police to use their firearms following a refusal to comply with a traffic stop if the driver is likely to pose a risk to their life or physical safety, or to other people’s.
Slow investigation
Mr Devassine published photos of the ceremony on his Instagram profile on July 27.
“It was incredible to live this ceremony in the middle of the Seine with the boys,” he wrote.
They had not been able to perform their stunts live because of the heavy rain, he said.
The footage that was shown on TV during the opening ceremony was recorded during the afternoon’s training, according to La Voix du Nord newspaper.
The Paris 2024 organisers said all performers were hired by a production agency.
“The most difficult thing is to think that three years have passed and he is doing his stunts on TV while the investigative judge still hasn’t interrogated him - if the judge had done his work, he wouldn’t be on TV,” said Mr Issam El Khalfaoui, Soheil’s father.
The Marseille prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
The family’s lawyer, Mr Arie Alimi, said that Mr Devassine was still working as a police officer.
“It is a sign that the Interior Ministry showcases authors of police violence,” he said.
The Interior Ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for confirmation that Mr Devassine was a serving officer or to Mr Alimi’s allegation it was showcasing police violence.
