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French prosecutors probe fund for policeman who sparked riots

French prosecutors said on Wednesday they had opened an investigation into an online collection for a French police officer who sparked nationwide riots in late June by shooting a teenager dead in a Paris suburb.

French prosecutors probe fund for policeman who sparked riots
Protesters show a banner reading Justice for Nahel. Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP

The initiative on GoFundMe.com, launched by far-right media commentator Jean Messiha, received pledges of more than €1.6 million before it was closed in early July.

The mother of the 17-year-old shot dead in Nanterre on June 27th filed a legal complaint via her lawyer, alleging fraud, misuse of personal data and conspiracy in these crimes by Messiha.

A legal probe by specialised financial crime investigators was underway, the Paris prosecutor told AFP on Wednesday.

“We welcome the speed of the decision by the prosecutor,” Yassine Bouzrou, who is acting for the dead boy’s mother, told AFP.

Messiha was contacted for comment.

OPINION: The €1.6 million fund for accused police officer reveals deep divides in France

The 38-year-old motorbike traffic officer behind the killing of French-Algerian teenager Nahel Merzouk has been detained and charged with voluntary manslaughter.

The shooting, at point-blank range, sparked the most intense urban violence in France since 2005 and rekindled complaints about heavy-handed policing and racism in deprived areas of the country.

Messiha said the fund, which was intended for the officer’s family, was “a cry from French people to demand order, a cry of love for their security forces.”

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CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

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