WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, UCL Press Release: Truth and Justice for El Hacen Diarra! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 This Sunday, January 25, more than 2,300 people marched in the 20th arrondissement of Paris to demand truth and justice for El Hacen Diarra, murdered on January 14 by the police. Yet another racist murder perpetrated by a police force on the verge of fascism, whose violence is covered up by a well-oiled system. ----

El Hacen was a Mauritanian immigrant worker. On January 14, according to witnesses, he left his hostel for some fresh air. It was there that the police, using the pretext of a routine check, beat him severely and tasered him, as shown in a video recording. He was then taken to the 20th arrondissement police station where he died.

While the police officers' account could not be corroborated by any body cameras, whose batteries had mysteriously died, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez immediately sided with them, justifying the arrest on the grounds of alleged drug possession and dehumanizing El Hacen by referring to him as an "individual." This account was echoed by a segment of the media, accustomed to parroting the prefectures' pronouncements.

At a time when we are rightly outraged by the murders committed by ICE, Trump's fascist militia in the United States, the French police are not to be outdone. Since 2005, 162 people have died in France following attempted police checks, and 560 people have died during interactions with law enforcement, including 65 in 2024. The police kill, and they are killing more and more, fueled by the racist and security-obsessed rhetoric and policies of the right and far right.

More than 10 days after the events, the police officers responsible for this "arrest" are still on duty. El Hacen's neighbors and loved ones are afraid to leave their homes. They know what El Hacen's crime was in the eyes of the police: being a Black man in public. With municipal elections just a few months away, it is time to address the issue of police brutality and demand accountability, including from those who claim to represent the left but arm the police. The safety of our class is at stake, and particularly that of racialized or marginalized people who are the primary targets of a radicalized police force.

Disarming the police, protecting our loved ones and our neighbors-these must be our watchwords. Truth and justice for El Hacen!

Libertarian Communist Union, January 28, 2026.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Verite-et-justice-pour-El-Hacen-Diarra
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Link: (en) France, UCL Press Release: Truth and Justice for El Hacen Diarra! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Source A-infos-en@ainfos.ca