The Marseille Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the death of a man in the riots last week due to a possible impact from a rubber ball fired by the police, several French media reported. The death of a 27-year-old man occurred last Saturday night and could have been due to the impact of a high-powered rubber ball, for which the action of the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN, in charge of to investigate the security forces).
The prosecution considers it “probable” that the death of this man was due to a “violent blow to the chest level caused by the firing of a flash-ball type projectile, as the high-powered rubber projectiles used in France are called as riot material. However, the Prosecutor’s Office has not yet been able to determine if the victim had participated in the riots or was in the area. The man was found in serious condition that night on a street in the center of Marseille and was taken to a hospital where he died.
Meanwhile, the family of the young man whose death by police shots on Tuesday of last week caused the riots announced that they are going to sue the promoter of an economic fund to support the family of the agent who shot.
The lawsuit “for fraud in an organized gang” was announced by the lawyers of Nahel M’s mother, against Jean Messiha, a well-known far-right polemicist. The fund was created last Friday on the GoFundMe platform, which has defended itself by ensuring that this initiative, called “Support for the family of the Nanterre police officer”, complies with all its rules.
Faced with the controversy created, to which leftist politicians have joined, Messiha announced that he will close the fund at midnight today (22:00 GMT). An hour before, he had received donations for 1.61 million euros.
The tension in France is decreasing as the days go by. The Ministry of Justice confirmed on Tuesday night that a total of 3,625 people had been arrested since the protests over Nahel’s death began, including 1,124 minors. 990 people were brought to justice (including 480 in immediate appearance) and 380 are in pretrial detention.
