Six years after 80-year-old Zineb Redouane was fatally injured by a tear gas grenade fired during a protest in Marseille, it has emerged that a riot police officer has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The charge was filed by a judge in Lyon on 12 September but was only made public this week following a report in French daily Le Monde.
The officer is accused of launching the grenade that struck Redouane, who is from Algeria, as she stood at her fourth-floor window on 1 December 2018.
Yassine Bouzrou, the lawyer for Redouane’s children, has said that while the family feels relief at the development, they are also "angry and perplexed" by the wait for justice they have endured.
"The courts knew from the outset that they had to charge this police officer, but lacked the courage to confront the pressure surrounding the case," Bouzrou said.
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Collusion fears
The case was reassigned to the Lyon district in 2019 amid concerns of possible collusion between the Marseille prosecutor's office and the police officers involved.
Grégory Joron, secretary general of the Un1té national policing union, highlighted concerns regarding accountability, stating that the search for individual responsibility raises questions about officers’ commitments in similar future situations.
On 1 December, 2018, Redouane was standing at her fourth-floor window, when she was struck in the face by shrapnel from a tear gas grenade fired by law enforcement trying to disperse demonstrators below.
The scene unfolded during a dual protest involving the Yellow Vests movement and a march against inadequate housing in Marseille.
Redouane succumbed to her injuries the following day in hospital.
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NGOs investigate
In 2020, an expert report during the investigation concluded that the officer's shot was properly executed – in a bell-shaped trajectory – and that the incident was accidental.
However, a subsequent investigation by investigative portals Disclose and Forensic Architecture disputed this, suggesting that the shot was fired directly – which is prohibited near residential buildings.
Their findings indicated that the MP7 grenade struck Redouane from approximately 37 metres away, while it is typically intended for use at a distance of 100 metres.
A 2021 report from the General Inspectorate of the French National Police (IGPN) found that while the shot was fired legally and without intent to hit the victim, the officer did not exercise the necessary caution.
The IGPN recommended disciplinary action against the officer and their supervisor, a recommendation that the director general of the National Police, Frédéric Veaux, ultimately dismissed, citing factors such as "fatigue", "lack of visibility" and "tension".
Marking the sixth anniversary of Redoune's death, Bouzrou intends to seek an indictment against the supervising officer and push for the charges against the accused officer to be reclassified as manslaughter for "deliberate violence leading to death without the intent to cause it".
