On Saturday, a large crowd of people gathered in Marseille to pay tribute to the brother of a drug-trafficking activist who was killed in France’s second-largest city.
Before observing a minute of silence at the roundabout where Mehdi Kessaci, 20, was fatally shot by a gunman in his parked car on November 13th, demonstrators chanted “Justice for Mehdi.”
Authorities are still looking into the murder, but the death is regarded as a “warning crime” in relation to his brother Amine Kessaci’s, 22, anti-drug activism, who was greeted with cheers as he joined the crowd on Saturday.
Amine Kessaci, who is currently living in a police-protected area, witnessed a significant police presence in the southern port city, which is a major drug trafficking hotspot.
After his half-brother Brahim was killed in a drug-trafficking fight in 2020, the young anti-drug and environmental activist launched a campaign.
“I want Mehdi’s justice.” My other brother, Brahim, was also murdered, and I want justice. I want all victims to be compensated. Due to security concerns, Amine reaffirmed his family’s need for safety at the gathering until the last minute.
The activist claimed that the “mothers of the neighbourhoods (hit by drug crime) who deserve a decoration for their courage, their dignity, and their daily struggle” should be given France’s highest order of merit, the Legion of Honor.
“We have been speaking out for years and have been raising the alarm because silence kills,” said one activist. He claimed on Saturday in a recorded message that was played to the crowd that every institution’s retreat has aided in the spread of drug trafficking.
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More than a dozen people have been killed since the start of the year in turf wars and other issues related to cocaine and cannabis dealing, in Marseille’s struggle against drug crime.
Mayor of Marseilles Benoit Payan remarked, “Fear cannot defeat us.”
He continued, calling for unity and opposing the label of Marseille as a “narco-city” and saying, “We must resist and fight them, wage a war against those who kill for money.”
‘Scourge’
Mehdi’s passing having sparked a national focus on drug crime, with initiatives planned for other 25 towns and cities, along with politicians from all political parties, at the gathering.
Mehdi, who aspired to work as a police officer, was killed there by numerous white rosebushes.
President Emmanuel Macron urged France to intensify its actions and adopt the same strategy it has used against “terrorism” as the interior minister Laurent Nunez described the crime as a “turning point.”
Mehdi Kessaci’s murder shocked Marseille, despite drug-related homicides that are frequently covered in front-page news.
More than 6,200 people, including some who carried white flowers and wore white shirts, were present in the crowd.
The gathering would be a time of reflection for 72-year-old activist Anne-Marie Tagawa, who also wants to let us know that we don’t like what is going on.
She referred to disadvantaged neighborhoods as “fertile ground that has been abandoned by institutions, the State,” leaving those who would create “systems of violence” and “places where crime thrives” there.
Ouassila Benhamdi, Mehdi’s and Brahim’s mother, stepped up to the gathering and donned a completely white outfit.
My heart is ripped apart, I say. I have no control. No mother wants to have her children pass away before her, she declared in a speech that a friend finished reading for her as she struggled to cope with grief.
She continued, “I am urging the government to understand the gravity of what is happening.”
For all the families who have been impacted by this pang, “this must stop.”
Source: Channels TV
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