[ad_1]
Hundreds of people gathered in the cities of Conakry, Rouen and Paris this weekend to protest racist violence after the badbadination of a Guinean academic, Mamoudou Barry, in Normandy last Friday, by a man who had shouted racist slurs. The suspect would be suffering from a mental illness.
Protesters in Paris marched Saturday under the slogan "No to racism and singing Never again".
Many carried banners bearing the inscription "Justice for Mamoudou Barry", while others carried placards bearing the photo of the young 31-year-old researcher who died after being beaten to death in Rouen, in the north. from France.
Under a cloudy sky, many in the crowd struggled to contain their anger.
"What has he done wrong?" said Boubacar Telly Diallo, a 29-year-old bank manager.
"He was going home with his wife and he was killed (…) just because he was black," he told RFI.
The Guinean university doctor had just finished his Ph.D. when he was attacked by a qualified Frenchman of Turkish origin on Friday, July 19, who had called him "black bastard".
Racism or act of madness?
Barry's relatives quickly described the incident as racially motivated. However, the suspect's father's lawyer told reporters that he "had no chance that the young man could attack anyone because of the color of his skin".
"He grew up in a multiracial environment with people from all walks of life," said lawyer Selcuk Demir at the French news agency AFP.
The suspect, known as Damien A, 29, was arrested on Monday, July 22, on suspicion of murder, and has since been transferred to a mental hospital for mental health reasons.
Back in March, few people are convinced by the plea of madness.
"Even though he had a psychiatric problem, he had spoken to her [Mamoudou Barry] so badly, he was really violent in his remarks, "says Laure Vogiel, a Frenchwoman who runs an NGO working with refugees in Paris.
"I can understand that he had a psychiatric problem, but I can not understand that he could say," You are a black black or things like that ", and I do not understand how he can hurt someone to death, "she told RFI.
The death of Mamoudou Barry was a blow to the Guineans in France and at home, where parades were also held in the capital Conakry.
The academic, who taught at Rouen-Normandie University, was admired for his work, which included a recent thesis on tax and customs policies for foreign investment in French-speaking Africa.
Breath to Guinean pride
"I interacted with him for three years," comments student Mamoudou Barry, who bears the same name as the victim.
"To learn that he was killed in this way and that he was the victim of racial insults, that is why I came," Barry told RFI, after stating. to be returned to Paris from Rouen, where at least 1,400 people demonstrated on Friday to demand justice.
The investigators are still trying to reconstruct the circumstances that led to the death of Mamoudou Barry, while his family and protesters called for more transparency.
"We are in 2019, and it could happen," said Eric Koka, president of an organization for the Guinean diaspora.
"Barry got out of his car to ask for an explanation about the reasons for his insult, no matter how proud Guinean would have done the same thing," Koka told RFI.
According to him, Barry's death is at the heart of Guinea's pride.
"We were the first country in West Africa to become independent [in 1958]we wanted our independence. We are proud. So, calling Mamoudou Barry a "black bastard", it's like insulting us all, "he said.
Source link
