Over 2,000 individuals have been tried in connection with the riots that erupted after the death of Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old French citizen of Moroccan and Algerian descent, was shot at point-blank range by police in Nanterre during a traffic stop on June 27, according to Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti on Tuesday.
“2,107 people have been tried, 1,989 have been convicted, and 1,787 have been sentenced to imprisonment” as of August 1, according to Dupond-Moretti in a statement.
The Interior Ministry reported 4,000 arrests in the days following Merzouk’s death. In a memo sent to the prosecutor’s office on June 30, Dupond-Moretti promised a “quick, firm, and systematic” criminal response against the offenders, including minors and their guardians.
Dupond-Moretti urged “severe sanctions” to the worst urban violence in the nation since 2005, with numerous courts holding fast-track trials for suspects. “I called on the magistrates to be firm, and they responded,” Dupond-Moretti added. “It was a question of restoring law and order.”
The minister also revealed that over the course of the four nights of conflicts, 20 judicial facilities were damaged, amounting to five million euros ($5.4 million).
The death of Merzouk at the hands of French police in June sparked global outrage and prompted the United Nations’ call for France to address racism and discrimination in law enforcement.
Thousands of French citizens protested police brutality, with the latest incident being a video of a Black man hit by a police vehicle and then pinned to the ground. The excessive force used by law enforcement officers has sparked debates about their role and methods.