"Twenty years ago, a tragic event changed the direction of my life. Three teenagers from the banlieue of Clichy-sous-Bois, north of Paris, were returning from a football game one afternoon in late October 2005 when they were chased by police. Zyed Benna, Bouna Traore and Muhittin Altun had done nothing wrong (an inquiry later confirmed this) but were so disoriented by fear of the police, they hid in an electricity substation."
"In an awful twist of fate, Zyed and Bouna died by electric shock on 27 October 2005, while Muhittin was severely burned and scarred for life by the ordeal. Their deaths led to rioting across France the worst in years. The episode also turned me into a fully committed activist against racism and inequality. Yet for some politicians the response was to criminalise the victims."
"The interior minister at the time for example, Nicolas Sarkozy. He initially suggested the teenagers had committed burglary and then declared: When you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear from the police. Sarkozy preached a hardline, zero-tolerance approach when it came to criminality. You would think therefore that he would accept his own punishment without complaint. Because today, it is Sarkozy who finds himself behind bars."
Three teenagers from Clichy-sous-Bois fled police after a football match in October 2005, hid in an electricity substation, and two—Zyed Benna and Bouna Traore—died from electric shock; Muhittin Altun survived with severe burns. Their deaths sparked nationwide riots and intensified activism against racism and inequality. Some politicians, including then-interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, criminalized the victims and promoted a hardline, zero-tolerance stance. Years later Sarkozy was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy in a Libyan campaign-funding case linked to his 2007 presidential campaign; he denies wrongdoing and has appealed.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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