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 Traoré 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.”
