By Damon Mitchell • Published: 09 Jun 2020 • 16:33
Assa Traore, Adama's sister. Credit: Twitter
IN Paris, the family of Adama Traore, the black Frenchman who died in police custody in 2016 in similar circumstances to American George Floyd, rejected talks with France’s justice minister, Nicole Belloubet, and chose instead to ask protesters to continue their rallying. On July 19, 2016, Traore died when three police officers used their body weight to pin him down during an arrest and was unconscious and could not be revived by the time they got him to the station. After three separate reports, medical experts seem to have different opinions as to whether he died due to how he was restrained or because of an unknown medical condition. Traore’s family are demanding that the officers involved be held accountable as nobody has ever been charged with his death. “We’re demanding acts of justice, not discussions,” Assa Traore, Adama’s sister, told a press conference.”We’ll protest in the streets, every week, if necessary.” The ‘Truth for Adama’ campaign arranged a mass protest in Paris on Saturday which has run alongside those for George Floyd in America.
Global unrest with regard to the killing of Floyd has given momentum to the Traore family’s campaign. Human rights groups have noted that accusations of racism and brutality against French officers go unnoticed. French PM Edouard Philippe described the conditions in which Floyd died as “monstrous,” and acknowledged that the global show of emotion and support “resonated with the fears and feelings of a part of the French population.”
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