Paris Protest Following Death of El Hacen Diarra During Police Custody

On Saturday, February 21, a demonstration took place in Paris, with participants demanding an explanation of the circumstances surrounding the death of 35-year-old El Hacen Diarra. The man, a citizen of Mauritania, died over a month earlier during police custody at a police station located in the city's 20th arrondissement. Demonstrators gathered to express solidarity with the deceased's family and to demand a full, transparent investigation into the matter. In France, a heated public debate has been ongoing for years regarding the practices used by police forces, especially in the context of arrests and the use of coercive measures. Particular controversy surrounds cases of deaths of people of African and Arab origin during interventions, which in the past have led to serious riots, such as those in 2005 in the Paris suburbs. The supervisory institution in such matters is the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), often criticized for its lack of independence. The number of participants in Saturday's gathering is reported differently by various sources. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the newspaper "Le Parisien" report 200 to 300 people. Meanwhile, the Paris police prefecture reported a figure of 1,200 demonstrators. Such discrepancies in estimates are fairly typical in the French context and often reflect different counting methodologies or the communication goals of the institutions. The deceased's family, represented during the protest, emphasized the insufficient amount of information provided to them by the authorities and doubts about the official version of events. „On a besoin de lumière, on a besoin de vérité. On veut savoir ce qui s'est vraiment passé cette nuit-là.” (We need light, we need truth. We want to know what really happened that night.) — Protest participant The case of Diarra's death fits into a broader, decades-long discussion about the relations between French law enforcement and immigrant communities, particularly those living in the suburbs of large cities. Similar protests have already occurred following other incidents, which reinforced the narrative of systemic discrimination and abuse. Currently, the investigation into the matter is being conducted by the prosecutor's office, and its results will be crucial for the further development of the situation. It can be expected that the topic will return to public debate, especially in the context of upcoming elections or further reports from human rights monitoring organizations. Liberal media emphasize the systemic problem of police abuses and demand deep institutional reforms, pointing to historical neglect in this area. | Conservative media focus on the need to support the police in their difficult service and warn against generalizing individual incidents, which could weaken the authority of the state.