The Paris policeman charged with murdering an ethnic minority teenager and triggering mass rioting across France was today released on bail.
Florian M., a 38-year-old traffic control officer, shot dead Nahel Merzouk, 17, from a French Algerian-Moroccan background, in the suburb of Nanterre on June 27.
There were immediate claims of a racist killing, as thousands of people took to the streets, causing some £600million worth of damage to property.
Buildings and cars were set alight, while police and gendarmes during nightly battles with protestors, 1800 of whom were arrested.
Rioters rammed a burning car into the home of a mayor of a town outside Paris, injuring his wife and child in what he has branded as an ‘assassination attempt’ in July, and a 45,000-strong nationwide police operation was launched to regain control of the streets amid widespread rioting, looting and protests following Nahel’s death.
![A police officer has been handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide and placed in provisional detention following killing of Nahel on Tuesday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/15/20/72693807-12754277-A_police_officer_has_been_handed_a_preliminary_charge_of_volunta-a-30_1700079580008.jpg)
A police officer has been handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide and placed in provisional detention following killing of Nahel on Tuesday
![black-clad protester is seen perched atop a traffic sign, as people take part in a march in the memory of 17-year-old Nahel](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/15/20/77847461-12754277-image-a-31_1700079594025.jpg)
black-clad protester is seen perched atop a traffic sign, as people take part in a march in the memory of 17-year-old Nahel
![A picture of smiling Nahel was released by his family, along with the words: 'The love of my life'.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/15/20/72612959-12754277-A_picture_of_smiling_Nahel_was_released_by_his_family_along_with-m-41_1700080346071.jpg)
Left: A picture of smiling Nahel released by his family, along with the words: ‘The love of my life’. Right: A picture published in French media of the victim
Clashes continued following his funeral in July with thousands arrested on the streets of Paris.
Florian M., whose full surname is not being revealed, was held in custody from June 29 pending trial, but on Wednesday legal sources confirmed he was at home in the Paris area.
‘He was released under judicial supervision on Wednesday,’ said one of the sources. ‘His lawyer has repeatedly made bail appeals, and the latest was last Thursday.’
Investigating judges believe that after four-and-a-half months on remand, the policeman can safely stay out of prison.
There were initially serious fears that he a serving police officer accused of murder would be vulnerable to attack.
Bail conditions include ‘paying a bond’ and staying away from parties to the case, including witnesses, said the source.
Florian M. is also banned ‘from appearing in Nanterre’ and from ‘holding a weapon’, said a prosecuting source.
Laurent-Franck Liénard, the motorcycle policeman’s lawyer, has always pleaded his client’s innocence, saying the detention was ‘illegal.’
The defence claim that Florian M. feared he was about to be run over by Merzouk, who was at the wheel of a Mercedes car, during a traffic control stop.
However, video evidence that appeared later appeared to contradict the policeman’s initial statement.
In turn, Merzouk’s mother, Mounia, said: ‘I don’t blame the police, I blame one person – the one who took the life of my son.’
![Merzouk's mother, Mounia, said: 'I don't blame the police, I blame one person - the one who took the life of my son.'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/15/20/77847503-12754277-image-a-36_1700079688125.jpg)
Merzouk’s mother, Mounia, said: ‘I don’t blame the police, I blame one person – the one who took the life of my son.’
![Mounia, mother of the French teenager killed by police, attends a memorial march for her son](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/15/20/72673279-12754277-Mounia_mother_of_the_French_teenager_killed_by_police_attends_a_-a-33_1700079617221.jpg)
Mounia, mother of the French teenager killed by police, attends a memorial march for her son
![Protesters clash with police, following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by an officer during a traffic stop](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/15/20/72703619-12754277-Protesters_clash_with_police_following_the_death_of_Nahel_a_17_y-a-32_1700079614817.jpg)
Protesters clash with police, following the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by an officer during a traffic stop
![Burned cars line the street at the foot of the Pablo Picasso estate in Nanterre, west of Paris on June 30, 2023](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/15/20/72713125-12754277-Burned_cars_line_the_street_at_the_foot_of_the_Pablo_Picasso_est-a-34_1700079625178.jpg)
Burned cars line the street at the foot of the Pablo Picasso estate in Nanterre, west of Paris on June 30, 2023
![People attend a march in tribute to Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/15/20/77847517-12754277-image-a-37_1700079711499.jpg)
People attend a march in tribute to Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre
She said the officer ‘saw an Arab face, a little kid, and wanted to take his life’.
‘A police officer cannot take his gun and fire at our children, take our children’s lives,’ she previously said.
Nahel, who did not have a criminal record, was suspected of reckless and underage driving in the car, which did not contain anything illegal.
Lawyers for Nahel’s family have also described the circumstances of his death as ‘an execution’ and called for an enquiry into police racism against ethnic minorities.
The policeman’s murder is expected to take place in 2024 at the earliest.
Race was a taboo topic for decades in France, which is officially committed to a doctrine of colour-blind universalism.
In the wake of Nahel’s killing, French anti-racism activists renewed complaints about police behaviour.
Thirteen people who didn’t comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year.
This year, another three people, including Nahel, died under similar circumstances.
The deaths have prompted demands for more accountability in France, which also saw racial justice protests after George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.
The protests echoed the three weeks of rioting in 2005 that followed the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traoré and 17-year-old Zyed Benna, who were electrocuted while hiding from police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois.