Overview
- The family’s lawyer claims a second violent episode occurred during a custody search after the January arrest and has moved to recuse the investigating magistrates for alleged bias.
- Paris prosecutors confirm an open judicial investigation for violence by a public official causing death, with supplementary forensic examinations still outstanding and the IGPN’s commission rogatory in progress.
- Before the IGPN took over, police statements recorded at a central station said El Hacen Diarra tried to pull his arm from a handcuff during the search, that an officer placed a hand on his head, and that he then let himself fall before later ceasing to breathe on a bench.
- The family asserts two distinct episodes of violence, citing a ventral restraint and alleged strangulation lasting three to five minutes during the arrest, followed by further force in the station’s search room.
- The officers remain on duty without charges, their defense did not comment, body-worn cameras were reportedly not functioning due to dead batteries which the family disputes, and additional autopsy results are awaited.