BEAUMONT-SUR-OISE: Four years after the death of a 24-year-old black man, Adama Traore, in French police custody, several thousands of people rallied in his memory on Saturday, against the backdrop of the global Black Lives Matter movement.
Family and friends of Traore continue to press for a full account of the circumstances leading up to his death amid heightened awareness of police brutality in a number of countries around the world.
The march - in the town of Val-d'Oise just outside Paris - was organised by an Adama support group and Alternatiba, an environmental group that is fighting against social inequality. French judges have ordered a new medical inquiry to ascertain the cause of Traore's death in custody that made him a symbol of alleged police racism and violence.
Traore had been pinned to the ground by police officers, and fainted while being brought to a police station where he later died. "No man, no person should die like that, at that age," said Assa Traore, a sister who has led the fight on her brother's behalf and wants to see the officers charged with voluntary homicide.
The case was thrust back into the spotlight with the Black Lives Matter protests in the US sparked by the death of George Floyd after he was pinned down by a white officer's knee for nearly nine minutes.
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