France has seen nearly 2,000 convictions in the wake of the nationwide riots that erupted in late June, originating near Paris following the fatal shooting of a teenager named Nael by the police during a traffic stop. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti disclosed this information on Tuesday.
The minister emphasized the need for judges to deliver a “swift, decisive, and systematic” response to this wave of urban violence, which constitutes the most significant outbreak of such unrest in the country since 2005. He highlighted that many courts have been expediting trials for the suspects involved.
During an interview with RTL radio, Dupond-Moretti stated that out of the 2,107 individuals put on trial, 1,989 found guilty, leading to 1,789 receiving prison sentences, as reported by AFP.
“I urged the judges to make resolute decisions, and they responded,” Dupond-Moretti asserted, adding, “What was at stake was the restoration of law and order.”
The minister also revealed that the clashes resulted in the destruction of 20 judicial facilities over the course of four nights, incurring a cost of five million euros ($5.4 million) for taxpayers.
The riots triggered on June 27 when a police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old of North African descent, Nael M., in the Paris suburb of Nanterre after the teenager failed to comply with a police stop warning while driving a rental car.
The violence was eventually with control the deployment of around 45,000 security personnel, including elite police special forces and armored vehicles, on consecutive nights.
PREVIOUS BACKGROUND
The unrest began in the early hours of Tuesday, June 27, in Nanterre, a Paris suburb, when 17-year-old Nael M., of Algerian heritage, was fatally shot by the police after disregarding a police stop directive while operating a rental car. The initial events quickly spread to numerous major cities across Europe and proved challenging to contain.
