Abdou died, at the age of 31, shot dead on the night of June 7 to 8 at the foot of his building. Residents of his neighborhood organized a march in his honor from the Mas de Mingue to the Nîmes courthouse on Wednesday June 22.
Places des Mimosas (Mas-de-Mingue district), 3 p.m. A small discreet group of wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters or daughters, veiled or not, chat in Arabic or French in the square where the market is usually held.
On these faces, devastated, sadness. That of having lost Abdou, 31, who succumbed suddenly to his injuries after being shot on June 7th. “We are here for more justice and equal treatment between all Nîmes. At Mas-de-Mingue we feel abandoned. Here, there are no more public services or security!”denounces a former resident, evoking the absence of video protection cameras or, even, of a police station here.
3:15 p.m. Myriam, who came as a neighbor from Chemin-Bas, distributes black t-shirts bearing the inscription Peace and Justice for Abdou, to the men standing a few meters away, precisely at the foot of the building where their brother, friend or neighbour, had ended up succumbing. The young woman, also 31, claims to have grown up with the deceased man. “In his honor, in support of his mother, his brothers and sisters too, we decided to walk”explains the one who took care of bringing the participants together with one of Abdou’s sisters, or even of declaring this peaceful march in the prefecture.
At 3:30 p.m., the procession starts. Direction downtown, escorted by the police. The fifty or so participants at the start, eighty on arrival (out of the 500 expected), joined for 5 p.m. without difficulty or hindrance to traffic, the courthouse of Nîmes on foot. Before the court, the disappointment is readable. “For Yanis, two years ago there were hundreds. Less so last year, during the march in tribute to Abdelkader, 17. Today, a year later, many have not come. people see that despite our deaths, despite the peaceful protest marches, nothing is being done to increase safety in our neighborhood!”observe these resentful inhabitants of Mas-de-Mingue.
Abdou had a criminal record. He had already been the victim of several homicide attempts.
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