‘My son was killed’ France faces backlash over proposed police firearms law

Paris, France – Issam El Khalfaoui’s teenage son Souhail was shot and killed by a police officer in 2021 in Marseille.“When my son was killed during a police traffic stop, we realised how difficult it was to bring the truth to light. The police and the justice system took different actions to cover up the evidence. We realised that this was a deeply systemic issue,” El Khalfaoui told Al Jazeera. “The IGPN [National Police] lost the video that captured my son’s murder. The witnesses were not interviewed, and the case file completely disappeared from the court. That is the reality.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4France halts police use of stun grenades at student protestslist 2 of 4Over 100 arrested in Belgium student protests over education costslist 3 of 4Protests rock France as government pledges 3,000 extra teacherslist 4 of 4‘This is a crisis of hope’: Echoes of 1968 as France’s students rise upend of listFrance has one of the highest numbers of fatal police shootings in Western Europe. At least 69 people were killed by police or gendarmerie officers in 2024, compared with 49 in 2023 and 50 in 2022.Now, French police are again facing scrutiny, this time over their...