交通取り締まりで停止拒否、警察が１７歳運転手射殺　仏

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】フランス・パリ郊外で２７日、交通取り締まりでの停止命令を無視した１７歳少年を警察官が射殺した。警察の武器使用をめぐる問題が噴出し、仏社会に大きな衝撃が走っている。（写真は１７歳少年が警察に射殺された事件を受けて発生した抗議デモで消火作業に当たる消防隊員。仏ナンテールで）
　検察によると、少年は２７日朝、レンタカーでナンテールを運転していたが、複数の違反を犯したとして警察に車両の停止を求められた。
　ソーシャルメディアで拡散している動画には、車両の停止を求める警察官の姿が捉えられていた。うち１人は窓ガラス越しに運転手に向けて銃を構えている様子が見て取れる。車両が発進すると、銃を構えていた警察官が至近距離から発砲しているのが分かる。ＡＦＰはこの動画が本物だと確認している。
　車両は数十メートル走行し、道路脇に衝突。当時、車内には他に２人の同乗者がいた。
　駆け付けた救急隊員が蘇生を試みたが、撃たれた少年は間もなく死亡した。
　ナンテールの検察当局によると、発砲した警察官は過失致死容疑で拘束された。
　少年の家族の弁護士はニュース専門放送ＢＦＭに、すべての関係者は捜査結果を待たなければならないが、動画からは「警察官が冷酷に少年を殺害した様子が分かる」とし、「いかなる合法的な自衛行為からもかけ離れている」と主張した。
　さらに、警察が当初、少年が警察官を車でひこうとしたと「うそをついた」と家族が訴えていることも明らかにした。
　事件を受けて、警察と地元住民の間の緊張が高まっており、同日夜にはナンテールで行われた抗議デモの参加者が車１台に火を放ち、バス停を破壊した。当局は９人を逮捕したと発表した。
　■ 「殺す許可」ではない
　フランスでは２０２２年、交通取り締まりでの停止命令拒否により、過去最多の１３人が命を落とした。これに関連して警察官５人が訴追されている。
　当局と警察労組は、２０２２年の記録的な死者数は、危険な運転が増えているためとしているが、その一方で専門家は、１７年に警察の武器の使用条件に関する法律が改正されたことも一因になっていると指摘する。
　２週間前には西部アングレームで、運転する車両で警察官の脚にけがをさせた１９歳の男性が、警察に殺された。
　極左政党「不屈のフランス」 のコーディネーター、マニュエル・ボンパール氏はツイッターに「確かに停止拒否は違法だ。だが、刑法で定められた罰則に死刑はない」と投稿した。
　また社会党のオリビエ・フォール第１書記は、停止命令を拒否されたとしても「殺す許可が与えられるわけではない」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/06/29-16:47）

French police on Tuesday killed a teenager who attempted to flee a traffic check outside Paris, prompting shock and questions over the readiness of security forces to resort to violence.
The 17-year-old was driving in a rental car in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre early Tuesday when police pulled him over for breaking several road rules, prosecutors said.
A video circulating on social media, authenticated by AFP, shows two police officers trying to stop the vehicle, with one pointing his weapon at the driver through the window and firing at point blank when he drives off.
The car moved a few dozen metres before crashing.
Emergency services tried to resuscitate him at the scene but he died shortly afterwards.
The officer accused of firing on the driver has been detained on homicide charges, the Nanterre prosecutors' office said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told parliament the two police officers were being questioned and acknowledged that the images posted on social media were extremely shocking.
He urged people to respect the grief of the family and the presumption of innocence of the police.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez admitted in an interview with BFM television that the action of the policeman raises questions, though he said it was possible the officer felt threatened.
The family's lawyer Yassine Bouzrou told the same channel that while all parties needed to wait for the result of the investigation, the images clearly showed a policeman killing a young man in cold blood.
This is a long way from any kind of legitimate defence he said, adding the family had filed a complaint accusing the police of lying by initially claiming the car had tried to run down the officers.
Later on Tuesday evening, protesters in Nanterre lit fires, set a car alight, and destroyed bus stops as tensions soared between police and locals.
Nine people were arrested in the confrontations, authorities said.
- 'No licence to kill' -
Two other people were in the vehicle at the time. A first passenger fled, while the second, also a minor, was arrested and taken into custody.
Nanterre mayor Patrick Jarry said he was shocked by the video images and passed his sincere condolences to the boy's mother.
He hopes that the investigations opened (...) will make it possible to shed light as quickly as possible on the exact circumstances of this tragedy, his office said.
It's so sad, he was so young, said Samia Bough, 62, the teenager's former neighbour, who came to lay a bouquet of yellow roses at the scene.
In 2022, a record 13 deaths were recorded after refusals to stop for traffic controls. Five police officers have been charged in these cases.
Authorities and police unions blame the 2022 figures on more dangerous driving behaviour, but researchers also point to a 2017 law modifying the conditions of the use of their weapon by the police.
Two weeks ago, a 19-year-old was killed by a police officer he had injured in the legs with his car in the western town of Angouleme.
The left reacted with anger, saying police had no right to kill people simply because they refused to stop.
Yes, a refusal to stop is against the law. But death is not one of the sanctions provided for by the penal code, tweeted the coordinator of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, Manuel Bompard.
A refusal to stop does not provide a licence to kill, said Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure.