Journalist Tomas Statius, who was himself a student at Sciences Po Lille at the time of the events, offers in his breathtaking investigation a re-reading of the facts in the light of the actions of the extreme right of the time in Lille. A meticulous investigation that asks many questions about this affair of the drowned people of the Deûle which sowed psychosis in Lille after the death of five young men, found in the Deûle, between October 2010 and November 2011. Specializing in the far right, the journalist offers a sort of rereading of the investigations into these 5 deaths by taking into account a phenomenon that was very present at the time of the events in Lille: regular night clashes led by members of the extreme right.
– Odile Senellart
“The far right and the oppositions between far right and far left activists at the time in the streets of Lille form a ‘backdrop’ of what the streets of Lille were like in those years. My initial premise was to say that this light would help explain what happened at the time. I have not proved that it was far right activists who pushed people into the Deûle. But it” was important to put it in perspective, especially in view of the latest elements of the investigation that appeared on Hervé Rybarczyk [le musicien, 5ème noyé de la Deûle]. It was said that he had committed suicide. We do not know what really happened, but we do know, however, that he met extreme right-wing activists that evening “. And in his book, Tomas Statius shows that it is a common point between all these deaths of the Deûle: they all passed through corners known to be frequented by members of the extreme right shortly before their disappearance.
Initially, the deaths of the “drowned de la Deûle” had been considered by the courts as accidental. The 5 drowned had in common to be highly alcoholic, they would have fallen into the water. Campaigns were even launched at the time against “binge drinking”, the rapid alcoholism to which some young people indulge. But the investigations were finally all reopened in 2015 and the procedure concerning the death of Hervé Rybarczyk clearly shows the extreme right, of which three members were also indicted in 2017. The investigations are still continuing.
“The dead of the Deûle“, 256 pages, published in JC Lattès editions
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