Massive Paris Protest Demands Justice for Migrant Worker's Death in Police Custody
Several thousand demonstrators flooded the streets of Paris on Sunday in a powerful display of outrage over the death of a Mauritanian immigrant worker while in police custody. The protest centered on the case of 35-year-old El Hacen Diarra, whose death has reignited longstanding accusations of racism and excessive force within French law enforcement.
March from Shelter to Police Station
Protesters gathered at the northeast Paris shelter where Diarra had been living, the very location where he was violently arrested by police on the night of January 14. From there, the crowd marched to the local police station, carrying banners with messages like "Justice" and "RIP" while chanting slogans against what they described as "a police force that kills us." Members of Diarra's family participated directly in the emotional demonstration.
Contradictory Accounts of the Incident
According to Diarra's family, the tragedy began when he was drinking coffee outside the shelter and encountered police officers, leading to an escalation. Prosecutors presented a different version, stating that police alleged they saw Diarra rolling a cannabis joint and attempted to arrest him after he refused a body search.
Video footage captured by neighbors and circulated on social media shows a police officer punching what appears to be a man lying on the ground, with another officer standing nearby. Diarra was taken into custody on suspicion of resisting arrest, possessing "a brown substance resembling cannabis," and having forged administrative documents.
Death in Custody and Legal Proceedings
Police reported that while waiting on a bench at the station, Diarra was seen passing out. Paramedics were called and attempted to revive him, but he was later pronounced dead. The family has filed a legal complaint accusing security forces of "intentional violence that led to a death," according to their lawyer Yassine Bouzrou.
Paris police have opened an internal investigation, but France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has rejected calls to suspend the officers involved pending the outcome. "The officer who, in the footage, throws two punches will have to explain himself," Nunez told Le Parisien newspaper, while adding that "nothing indicates, at this stage, what the causes of death are."
Family's Doubts and Broader Context
At the protest, Diarra's cousin Diankou Sissoko expressed deep skepticism about achieving accountability. "I don't believe at all that we will see justice, because even before El Hacen died there were other deaths and there has never been justice," she told AFP. She described Diarra as "kind, smiling" and "quiet," disputing police accounts that portrayed him as aggressive.
This case occurs within a broader pattern of allegations against French police:
- Increased accusations during the "yellow vest" protests between 2018 and 2019
- Prosecutors calling for a police officer to stand trial over the 2023 killing of a teenager during a traffic stop
- A court expected to rule in March on whether that officer will face criminal trial for killing 17-year-old Nahel M.
- Three police officers receiving suspended prison sentences in 2024 for inflicting irreversible rectal injuries on a Black man during a 2017 stop-and-search
The Paris protest represents a significant moment in France's ongoing struggle with police accountability, particularly concerning immigrant communities and allegations of systemic violence that have sparked nationwide demonstrations in recent years.
