France’s highest appeals court on Wednesday re-opened a trial of two police officers accused of failing to help two teenagers whose 2005 electrocution deaths sparked riots across the country.
The brother of one of the two victims praised the court for overturning a lower court that had ruled last year to drop the case against the officers for lack of concrete evidence.
The two boys – 15-year-old Bouna Traore and 17-year-old Zyed Benna – were electrocuted while hiding from police in a power substation in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois on Oct. 27, 2005. A third teenager suffered serious burns.
Frustrated minority youths in suburbs around the country blamed police for the deaths and erupted in anger, setting cars ablaze and smashing store windows.
“It’s a great day for us and for all those that shared our pain and suffering,” said Traore’s brother, Siyakha, speaking to the Sipa news agency outside the Paris court. He said he is “very relieved” and that the ruling constitutes “a huge step forward.”
In 2005, local youths blamed the police for the deaths and exploded in anger, setting cars ablaze and smashing store windows. That tapped frustration nationwide among largely minority youths in poor housing projects, and fiery riots raged across the country for three weeks, leading France to declare a state of emergency. Tensions between French police and youths in poor neighbourhoods still simmer and occasionally erupt into violence.
